Audi A3 1.6tdi (2010) overheating

[Jblakes]

Morning all,

Hopefully somebody can help me.

When I drive my car on the motorway, the car starts to overheat, but when I drive around town it seems to be OK.

Anyways this morning driving home from work, the car temp gauge started rising and I had a loss of power. The heater in the car isn't what it used to be either.

When I open a window, with heater full blast the Temp guage usually starts going back down to 90c.

Can anyone suggest what the issue could be and how to fix it?

Regards James

[Jblakes]

A further update, when the temperature going up towards to red 130c, I get the check coolant level warning on dash come on.

When I check coolant it's not moved. Still slightly below the max level, this is driving me insane.

Regards James

[Olas]

Remove and back flush radiator

Top it up and bleed it thoroughly.

If problem persists suspect water pump & thermostat.

[Jblakes]

Thanks for getting back to me,

Do you mean take the radiator out? Is that a big job?

Would flushing the coolant work?

Regards James

[Olas]

radiator is easy to remove - stick a hosepipe in the bottom and blast water out through the top to be sure it is not blocked.

Flushing coolant won’t make any difference but it will all drain out if/when you do the rad/pump/stat so you will refill it with new stuff.

MAKE SURE!! That the system is bled correctly - any air bubbles will cause similar issues to what you’re seeing now.

Remove and test the thermostat in a pan of boiling water on your stove - you should see it open and close with temp.

Is coolant level correct?

[Olas]

It’s too early for this but;

We’re all making assumptions here - how do you know wether the temperature sensor is functioning correctly?
And how do
You know the gauge in your dashboard is reading correctly?

Starting from the beginning, buy an IR temp gun from eBay (20-30 quid) and aim it at the top radiator hose where it comes out of the engine

Theoretical max temp before cavitation with a 15psi rad cap is 112deg.C.

[Jblakes]

I have no idea if it's working. I've never done a coolant change and had the car 4years, so probably time either way.

Is it easier to just disconnect the hoses from rad or completely remove it? I can't actually get to the bottom hose, is this accessible when you remove the paneling under the car?

Regards James

[Jblakes]

OK, so something very strange is happening.

Upon driving home the particle filter warning light came on, this went of five mins later, then the coil light can on, I scanned car using elm thing.

Got code p0101 maf sensor.

Does anybody know if these are all linked?

Regards James

[Josho]

You can get MAF issues with a blocked DPF.

DPF also won't regen if overheating.

Where are you located? My money would be on waterpump at a guess.

[Jblakes]

Derbyshire, can you check the waterpump or is it just one of those replace things?

[S.callaghan]

Hi all. I'm new here. But I do have 2010 audi a3 1.6tdci myself. And I have also experienced this exact same problem with mine. And I can guarantee you.. if you disconnect the 2 pipes from the heater matrix and connect them together with a bit of pipe. This will fix your problem. Although this is only a way of making sure it is the heater matrix is the problem. And you will no longer have hot air through you heaters until the matrix is fixed and pipes are reconnected. But your car will run perfectly and stop overheating if your problem. By having this problem and doing a lot of reading up on it.. I learned it is a major common problem with these engine's. I also learned that to change the rad that's behind the dash for the heater matrix.. is a stupid 5 hour job 🙄 Due to having to take the hole dashboard out of the car just to replace it. Hope this helps 👍

[S.callaghan]

Also... Yeah even the dpf light was coming on on my car because of this issue. Don't ask me how or why 🤷🏻‍♂️ Cos I have no idea tbh. All I know is connecting them pipes together sorted it all. I still to this day haven't gotten round to sorting the matrix. And still have them pipes contacted.