New member in NW FL

[moneypit]

Hi, all. I just picked up a nice clean 2004 Jetta GLS TDI with 152k miles. I've owned several VWs over the years ('71 T3 Squareback, '67 and '68 T1, '86 and '88 Cabbies, '85 Golf, '97 Jetta 2.0), but this is my first TDI, and being that it's a BEW PD- wish me luck! lol. The car came with no maintenance history, so I've walking on eggshells with it until I get a new timing belt installed, but I had to drive it the 8 hours home from Orlando (where I found it) this weekend. It returned a nice quiet, comfortable ride and 41.5 MPG running 80mpg on the freeway! Everything works as it should, and no MILs.

One question, though- On warmup, the temp gauge comes up slowly, as it should, then after it reaches 190, it drops back to 0 and climbs back up slightly slowly after about a minute and then stabilizes at 190. It does that about twice. Half of me wants to say it's a failing CTS, but as it stays solidly at 190 after warmup I want to say it's the normal action of the thermostat opening and closing to heat the coolant in the radiator... thoughts?

I want to give the site props- you really helped me out in knowing what to expect in the proper care and feeding of a TDI, and as I cut me teeth on years of Ford V8s and varios other gas engines, I have a steep learning curve ahead of me for this car. I'd be lost without mtd.com!

[chittychittybangbang]

lol, nice user name, you have owned several VWs

Prob bad coolant temp sensor, it's on coolant flange on dvr side head. Using a VCDS will quickly verify what the sensor is putting out w/o having to put in new sensor+ coolant and hoping it's the problem. gauge should never go to 0 after going up unless you left the car for hours.

also check out the mk4 new buying guide for other common probs

[moneypit]

Thanks for the info! Yeah, I was afraid of that... As it mostly works like it should, I'll leave it alone until I do the water pump/timing belt so I only have to refill the coolant once. I plan to buy a VCDS within the ext year, but I went the "wise" route and traded my '03 Mustang GT for the Jetta and kicked in an extra $2600 cash. I feels good to not owe anything! That said- necessities first! I'm hoping for the best (just a timing belt) but planning for the worst (camshaft, too). Not to mention the car needs new struts, DS hinge pin bushings, a serp belt and tesioner and a few other little things... (I'm REALLY OCD about my cars!)