OT Volkswagen VR6 help... is there a good board for this?

[SharkmanBMW]

I am looking for a link to a volks site that anyone may know of
presently having some thermostat issues... the needle drops to cold when the car is hot - sometimes... hot air from vents, no visual leaks...

any help is appreciated

[Mr Project]

I'm very sorry for you. Seriously. I had a '95 VR6 Jetta and couldn't get rid of it fast enough. That engine makes great noises, but what a pile of crap. The whole car. I mean, honestly.

Anyway, you can try:

forums.vwvortex.com

Go straight to the "technical" forums, there's a 12v and a 24v (you didn't say which one yours was) forum with some decent information. Do some searches, there's a lot of info in there mixed with a bunch of junior high crap.

In your case, though, I would just plan on replacing the thermosat, thermostat housing, and 'crack pipe' that runs across the block. Buy the parts, all needed o-rings, and some coolant, and breathe easy for 2 days until something else breaks. If you replace just the thermostat, you can guarantee either the housing or the crack pipe will break within 2 months, or the coldest day of the year when you're late for work, whichever comes first.

www.parts4vws.com (not the cheapest, but better than the $tealer and awesome service)
www.germanautoparts.com (they don't have a huge selection, but prices are decent and also great service)

And of course you can always try BMA. They always can get my Mercedes stuff.

[RIPN RAY]

hey, i own a 93 passat glx vr6.

www.vwvortex.com is the best place to get help. some forums tend to have more loser kids with worthless opinions then others. i've been a member of the PAOM forum (passat-all other models) for a while. the PAOM is said to be one of the better forums on the vortex.

so, you're still getting hot air but the needle drops to cold? or does the needle go to the resting place like when the car is off?

if it goes to the resting point then it sounds like an electrical problem. first culprit to check would be the coolant sensor. i beleave it's the 4 pin brown sensor on the right of the thermostat housing (top front right of engin). it's cheap enough to just replace, don't forget the o-ring and do it when the engine is cold.

if you happen to have a passat there's a power distributor in the cluster that may need to be resoldered.

also if you end up replacing the thermostat and housing get the up-graded coolant pipe a.k.a. "crack pipe"....because if it hasn't cracked on you then it will.

http://home.comcast.net/~paul_ilenda/wsb/media/635113/site1011.jpg

my passat :D http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RgDrAq4SsGORtnBktJpKQOKPI9Zu1KiuUF4Sp6i6CkpTcRal8 *3HLjSIrw8Up9zyYqInYh1SbpsX1vRYfYa4jEDjhBM0sOl2OPX 4NPmh8cA/P1030115.JPG?dc=4675463976439110696

[RIPN RAY]

found another pic

i'm pretty sure the coolant sensor is the yellow connector. on my car it's in the right far right position.
http://home.comcast.net/~paul_ilenda/wsb/media/635113/site1.jpg

also a great pic of the crack pipe and thermo housing

[SharkmanBMW]

thanks guys for the info... it turned out to be the sensor!
it'll be fixed next week sometime,
I will get around to the crack pipe before next winter though, thanks again!