Oil/water temp- Driving without underbody plates

Singh · Sep 4, 2012

Before the last trip to snow i got under the touareg to swap the plastic skid plate with the proper aluminium one. But one of the bolts had become free so couldnt finish the job in time before the trip so left without either plate under.
Didn't really think about what the cool air at over 100kmph would do to the temp regulation and two hours into the trip saw the gauges lying flat as i had just started the car!
They lifted to about 70deg at times in traffic and when slowed down but didnt get to the usual 90.
Back in sydney traffic, and at much lower speed they are back at 90, which is good to see.
Had me a bit worried, thought the valve might have stuck open.

Now need to get that damned bolt out somehow!! And let the proper bash plate remain there. Must be the service tech flexing his muscles on the small bolt

Laggyband · Sep 4, 2012

That does not sound right, they do channel the air "a bit" to aid cooling not restrict cooling, but the engine should still get to operating temperature and maintain at least 80 deg.c--sounds like the thermostat is stuck open.
My Plastic guard got smashed to bits on my first trip to the beach, i plan to have one drafted and engineered out of 6mm aluminium at some point, but my temps have not budged a bit from 40+ degree days to 3 degree nights the engine temp remains constant.

dragline1570 · Sep 4, 2012

Singh said:
Before the last trip to snow i got under the touareg to swap the plastic skid plate with the proper aluminium one. But one of the bolts had become free so couldnt finish the job in time before the trip so left without either plate under.
Didn't really think about what the cool air at over 100kmph would do to the temp regulation and two hours into the trip saw the gauges lying flat as i had just started the car!
They lifted to about 70deg at times in traffic and when slowed down but didnt get to the usual 90.
Back in sydney traffic, and at much lower speed they are back at 90, which is good to see.
Had me a bit worried, thought the valve might have stuck open.

Now need to get that damned bolt out somehow!! And let the proper bash plate remain there. Must be the service tech flexing his muscles on the small bolt

That does seem funny as i have been running mine without any belly plates for over 12 months and all my temps seem to be completley stable no matter what speed or driving conditions i'm in.
MMMM??

regards
drag

barefoot · Sep 4, 2012

like others, I have had my bashplate (acoustic baffle) off and have not noticed anything unusual.

I have noticed however when I have been down to the alps that the temperature do sit lower, can't remember how much lower but 70d does sound about right, I had put it down to the computer recalibrating for the colder weather but ....... I used to go down twice in winter, not so much now, and have not been down this year, the point I'm trying to make is, I have noticed this every time....

Singh · Sep 4, 2012

Interesting indeed, thanks for sharing your experience. I actually thought it could be due to the valve being stuck open but now driving around sydney it goes up to 90 and not over.
V10 has three plastic plates underneath and all of them are off right now...wonder if the temp regulation is any different in the v10.
Generally I too would think that removal of plastics would not cool the engine down so much, even travelling over 100
Wonder how to solve this mystery , perhaps put the plastics back on and give it a run

Singh · Sep 4, 2012

dragline1570 said:
That does seem funny as i have been running mine without any belly plates for over 12 months and all my temps seem to be completley stable no matter what speed or driving conditions i'm in.
MMMM??

regards
drag

Just read your comment Drag, are all your plates off? The front, middle and the rear section?

Laggyband · Sep 4, 2012

Singh said:
Interesting indeed, thanks for sharing your experience. I actually thought it could be due to the valve being stuck open but now driving around sydney it goes up to 90 and not over.
V10 has three plastic plates underneath and all of them are off right now...wonder if the temp regulation is any different in the v10.
Generally I too would think that removal of plastics would not cool the engine down so much, even travelling over 100
Wonder how to solve this mystery , perhaps put the plastics back on and give it a run

When your in a city it will hit 90 as the air flow is small and the car will regulate itself through the use of fans--over heating is not the issue, as soon as you get good airflow out of the city the thermostat should restrict the flow of hot water to the radiator thus maintaining the 90 degree core temperature. If the temp falls below i'd say 80 then the thermostat must be stuck open and the hot water generated by the engine is sent to the radiator where it is overcooled and returned to the engine cooling it too much.

Singh · Sep 4, 2012

Yep, sounds right...time to get the thermo replaced asap.
Interestingly no other issue or symptom, glad I had my eyes on the needles during trip....it even returned good fuel consumption....the cooler water/oil temp didnt seem to impact it. 9.8/100 for the 1280kms
Thanks guys, will confirm once back from the dealer

kev11e · Sep 4, 2012

G'day
FWIW, my experience has been similar - with bash plates. driving from Southern Highlands downhill to Sydney in really really cold night, water temp dropped heaps; until I had to give it a bit of work to do, when the temp came back up again. And the oil temp varied quite a bit too.
Regards

barefoot · Sep 5, 2012

Note, my experience with the lower temps is with the bashplate 'ON', I experienced this on the first year of ownership and subsequent years, I think it is a normal behaviour, so if you're worried get it checked out, else stop worrying.

My theory is, when the outside temperature is cold (alpine condition), the cooling system works differently, I don't know what it is, but I would be guessing that VW is well aware of it and has designed it so, hence the inclusion of the webasto heater for additional cabin and engine heating functionality and this heater only ever kicks in at very low temperature.

I have parked my car at De'a'd Horse Gap' for 3 days in sub-zero temperature, when I get back to the car the low temperature stays low all the way to Canberra, and it does not return to normal until the next day when the air temperature is above 5 degrees C or so.

dragline1570 · Sep 5, 2012

Singh said:
Just read your comment Drag, are all your plates off? The front, middle and the rear section?

Singh
Yea i have my plates in the garage on the wall as i never go off road
i just have never put them back on.
Unrelated but i have an issue with my MFD not working and now only has basically a blank screen.
Some times some slight images come up but not enough to read.
you can tell that the screen is changing by a slight flicker when you press the steering wheel controls but thats it.
I have been living with it for the last 2 months as my other car has had some issues but is fixed now so i can get my wife out of the reg and pull out the instrument cluster and see if i can see any thing.
If not i have talked to a company in England that hopefully can repair it
If not second hand from maybe germany as there are quite a few available.

regards
Drag

Singh · Sep 5, 2012

Thanks Drag, am sourcing the thermo housing and gasket now. let us know how you end up fixing the display, replacing the cluster could be the answer.
Cheers

dragline1570 · Sep 5, 2012

Singh said:
Thanks Drag, am sourcing the thermo housing and gasket now. let us know how you end up fixing the display, replacing the cluster could be the answer.
Cheers

Singh

If your looking for a thermostat housing look at this.
EBAY Item number: 251093808926

regards
Drag

Singh · Sep 6, 2012

Thanks Drag, it comes with the oil cooler - to which the thermo housing gets attached to i guess.
i could have bought this and replaced the oil cooler with it, but found a pretty good deal for the thermo housing and gasket for $100 less so bought that.
Its been shipped already so will have it next week when i will pay to get it replaced-dont think i have the expertise to put my hand anywhere under the bonnet...
Compare this to $614 vw wanted just for the housing n gasket. Price we pay to live down under...

schootsie · Sep 6, 2012

Oh Singh, it's just another piece of machinery, just because it looks totally confronting and the 'book' has so many parts that say ' do this before you do that or it's kaput' doesn't mean it's hard. Live adventurously mate, get greasy. John

Singh · Sep 7, 2012

schootsie said:
Oh Singh, it's just another piece of machinery, just because it looks totally confronting and the 'book' has so many parts that say ' do this before you do that or it's kaput' doesn't mean it's hard. Live adventurously mate, get greasy. John

Thanks for the inspiration John, i dont have the do it yourself manual plus if i stuff up then the ramification on the v10 could be expensive.
I need to change the front lower arms as well- which should be relatively simple.
Got the parts in the garage for now

Laggyband · Sep 7, 2012

When all thigs said and done--its just a well put together collection of nuts and bolts--do you want the proceedure posting?? To do this i need a VIN # and year

Singh · Sep 7, 2012

Thanks Laggyband, just pm'd you. I'll be brave and give it a shot. thanks!

Laggyband · Sep 7, 2012

Singh said:
Thanks Laggyband, just pm'd you. I'll be brave and give it a shot. thanks!

E-mail sent--sorry its scanned pages, my old PC has the VAG programs on and its got dementia. I had to print each proceedure then scan them to my new PC. I need to upgrade my new PC from 7 home to 7 ultimate to get the 32 bit capability. Then i will install all my VAG software onto that.

dragline1570 · Sep 7, 2012

Singh said:
Thanks Laggyband, just pm'd you. I'll be brave and give it a shot. thanks!

Hey Singh

If you have a shortage of tools or you would like some help i only live at the end of the F3

Regards
Drag

Oil/water temp- Driving without underbody plates

Singh

Laggyband

dragline1570

barefoot

Singh

Singh

Laggyband

Singh

kev11e

barefoot

dragline1570

Singh

dragline1570

Singh

schootsie

Singh

Laggyband

Singh

Laggyband

dragline1570

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