heya got a mk2 polo yesterday just wondering where the cooling needle should sit normally!! mine sits quite far to the right at the edge of the first white line that drops down,sorry for poor description but light also flickers on and off and sometimes stays on!any advice would be fantastic cheers

should be straight up or just below there really

should be straight up or just below there really

so mine really wants to be lower? the light seems to come on as well now!

is the car actualy overheating or just the gauge telling lies?

is the car actualy overheating or just the gauge telling lies?

well I'm not sure mate,this is my first polo and i have been told that the gauges are fairly poor!! problem is idont know where is a healthy place for the gauge to be!! as i said its up by the 3/4 mark! how could i test to see if it is getting that hot or gauges telling porkies?cheers

they're usualy consistant..should be straight up or close to it like i said...they can fail altogether though

is the cooling fan on alot ? does it instantly shoot over after a quick drive or just in heavy traffic

might be worth changing the sender first

everytime i turn the car off the fan is on,silly question but is it tricky to get parts for such an old car?? where is the sender located on the car? again sory for perhaps a silly question,cheers

Fan temp sender is located on the hose side of the radiator I think. Try GSF or ECP. The gauge sender is located on the thermostat housing.

if the fan is on and the gauge says hot , then sounds like it genuinly is hot

most mech parts are still easy to get for these

right thats a good starting point!! i was thinking it was water pump for some reason,what else could i look at changing? cheers

yeah could be water pump or blocked rad, stuck thermostat

u have been really helpful so far dude! i am considering taking it to my local vag guys get them to look at it,see what they come up with!! sorry to shy away from my topic but have u got a clue where to pik up engine parts and gearboxes? my mate has a 1.3 block he gonna giv me and i was gnna build up on!

engine parts ...german and swedish , eurocar parts , ebay

gearboxes or engines..try the classifieds section on here

thanos man you are a legend! gotta find a water pump now i think

be worth doing the cam belt if you do the water pump

even halfords stocked em when i need one

pumps are about £25 ish , belts under £5

really?? halfords have a water pump I'm actually shocked yea i was told that by another guy,is it a dificult thing to change?? never done one before

not too bad if youve done a few car jobs before

best get a haynes manual and have a good read up..you can find em on ebay for 99p or so

never really done cars,i fix trucks lol but I'm sure i will be ok,thanks man

oh ok if youve fixed stuff before then its no worries at all...just saying a newbie thats never fixed a car might struggle

if you do the belt as well ( you should ) get the front engine mount off and shove the engine over for access otherwise the bottom pulley wont come off lol

As above check all the coolant channels and parts. The senders are usual quite good and it sounds like its doing its job as it should.

I have had two polos and in good condition, mine often sat at halfway or just above. they would usually go upto 3/4 in general traffic on an average day weather wise. their radiators aren't that big and with the extra spots and grill size the airflow through isn't as great as it could be. saying that tho i have been in polos that steadily remained at halfway or under on the gauge, i guess some cars are just different to others.

check you have the right thermostat too. the early solid lifter heads have a fully open temperature of 92 deg., whereas the the hydraulic lifter heads have a fully open temp. of 86 deg. it is not unusual for them to be mixed up and if you have the higher thermostat then it will move right over to the right on a short journey before the fan kicks in and it stabilises.

If the red light still flickers or comes on after you've done the repairs and the gauge reads halfway or below, ignore it. It is not uncommon for the resistors to break down or a short circuit on the back of the cloacks which will cause it to flash unnecessarily.

Oh I see,well I drove it yesterday after letting it heat up and despite being super warm it didn't touch te 3/4 just stayed 2mm ish away from it so that's ok,just got to sort the shitty carb out now lol going to get a new radiator etc just because they look old old although would like to get a weber lol