Econ light / car overheating

[kenaimad]

Afternoon all

 

I do have a problem with my audi a3 8p v6 3.2 . At the begging there was a problem with the two front fans not working properly. They only work at when I turn the ignition on, very loud for about 10-15 seconds and that was it,no sign of them working during driving, temperature was a little bit temperamental as well , especially in traffic.  I replaced two collant temp sensors and thermostat, and the fans start working, when stationery or driving, BUT, they working perfectly fine when the econ light its off, if I will drive on bypass, high speed etc the light will stay off, but when stop in the traffic, engine temperature go up and the light will appear and there is no chance to switch it off and that affected the fans somehow, for example they started spinning when the temperature gauge go past the middle mark or didn' started at all. If that happen I need to turn the engine off and stared again, econ light will disappear for a couple of minutes and show up again. Weird stuff 

Any ideas of what it may be? 

I' rrunning out of patience for that 😞

Best

 

[Steve Q]

Does the air con work properly? 

I ask because if the air con isn't working.dur to a failed compressor etc then the econ.light will stay on. This is the case for my a6 where the air con has failed due to a nacksred pump but.i don't see the point of sorting it currently. 

Cheers

Steve

[kenaimad]

The econ light it's only on when engine temperature goes up, I think, I think if pass 90 degrees Celsius, on the dashboard will show 90 but the obd show slightly different reading. So if I drive on the bypass everything will be OK and the econ light will stay off, if I will be stuck in the traffic and the temperature will raise thats the time when econ  light comes on 

[kenaimad]

Sorry, I missed the main question, yes, it's ' working  fine, blow cold air etc, until the red light show up, then blowing warm air instead 

And I'm not really bothered about the A/C,what bother me is that the A/C somehow affect the engine cooling system/fans 

[niedzial1983]

Thermostat needs replacing 

[kenaimad]

Replaced two weeks ago 

[Magnet]

WHello Kenaimed,

Sorry to hear of your problem. 

Can I clear one thing with you and hopefully with other members on here who may be able to agree/disagree.

For your model year, Econ light on means Air Con switched off, so you will not get any cold air unless the light is off.

I must say, I am having difficulties  trying to link the fact whether the light is on or not from a point of overheating. I wouldn't have thought there would be any connection, but...

Overheating? Have you actually confirmed ( by measurements) that  the temperature is actually high when the gauge indicates it is? This will eliminate a false gauge signal issue. 

Thermostat? What make did you use?

Kind regards,

Gareth.

 

[kenaimad]

Thank you for reply 

Ok, I will try to explain that again, I know it' kinda weird problem 

I will also try to attach some picture and video if possible 

Light off-everything is OK - cold air blowing through the vents, front fans starting to cool down the engine when needed 

Light on - warm air blowing through the vents, front fans starting to be temperamental what means sometimes the colant  temperature wil past the midde mark and then they will start spinning, sometimes the fans will not start at all. Last time I was trying to remove the heat excess from the engine by setting the temperature to high on the AC and blowing it at full speed to inside of the car, the colant temperature go up to 115 - 120 and then the fans start working, but that is a little bit too late 

The light on the econ switching itself on, I'm not touching it, like I said before, I will drive the car and at some point the red light will shows up and I cannot switch it off, I try to press it for a couple of seconds, I try to press more than one button a time, nothing will switch it off, the only one thing that work is when I switch off the engine and switch it back on, red light will disappear for a couple of minutes and then show up again 

Thermostat make, I don't know, I need to ask my mechanic, probably one of the Eurocarparts shop

I use one of those obd scanner, OBD2, u link it with smartphone and r able to get some real time information, I know it's  not  tte best but that's  the only one available for me at all the time

Picture underneath, you can see the red light on econ button, that's the one I cannot switch off 

Best

Edited June 3, 2018 by kenaimad

[cliffcoggin]

Like Gareth I don't believe there is normally any connection between engine cooling and air conditioning. The only common factor between the two systems I know of is the power supply, which leads me to suspect an electronic fault or an electrical fault. Beyond that I have no idea.

[kenaimad]

Ok, just realised, maybe I'm looking at this problem from wrong perspective, for me the problem come from the A/C SIDE.  BUT maybe is the engine /cooler SIDE that cos the problem?  I thought that A/C weird behaviour cos the engine to overheat, maybe the on board computer shuts the A/C to save the engine/send all the air to cool it down,  is it possible ? I read about something similar, long time ago, will try to find it

Edited June 3, 2018 by kenaimad

[Magnet]

To repeat :- There are two basic things you need to do.

 Check the actual running temperature against the guage indicated temperature.

If you think your garage has used an aftermarket thermostat - or any other parts -  rather than (yes a dearer!) main dealer one then it is possible that this new one is not without fault. 

Replica aftermarket reliability? Can be poor. Please do not assume new means 'that eliminates that as a source of the problem'. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

[kenaimad]

Temperature on the dash sits on 90 , according to the OBD2 the temperature its actually 110 and rising, usually when the temperature reaches 115 on the  OBD  the dash gauge start moving up shows signs of overheating , so yes, there is a difference between the dashboard gauge and the OBD Real time info. Usually the fans start working when the temperature from OBD reach 117-118 degrees Celsius i think. 

Don't know the make of the thermostat, my mechanic is on holiday right know, but I think he pay for it somewhere between 20-25 quid 

I' m chasing him for more info

Right now I will try to flush the radiator, to see if the water flows as it should, one of the ideas, maybe the water /coolant flow is not big/ powerful enough? 

Best

[kenaimad]

The thermostat make is Gatez

[Magnet]

Never heard of them in c60 years of mechanicing! Probably made about as far east of the Thames estuary as you could go. Possibly serviceable , but would i take it for granted it is? No .

kind regards,

Gareth.

[kenaimad]

Hi all

A wee update

after I replace  the thermostat I also replaced the water pump as well and the overheating  problem still appears. My mechanic honestly said that there is nothing he can do, apart from questing. He gave me a number to a car electrician, and voila, he found the problem. There was a problem with the big (master) fan, no slow gear, only the fast one, not sending the proper commands to the small (slave) fan etc. After replacing both of the fans as the small one was a little bit wobbly so will have to be replaced too, sooner or later the overheating problem disappeared. I can be stuck in traffic for hours now and the temperature will stay at 89-90 degrees Celsius 

So thanks for ur help guys, and the patience 

Best

 

 

[WPAWS]

Fantastic news glad your back on the road m8

[kenaimad]

I was driving the car in the mean time, but I was sh....ng myself every time I saw some traffic 😄