so today on my way home from work i was driving my a4 pretty hard well not hard but higher rpm's before shift etc etc

im almost sure it wasnt higher then middle for heat, so i go inside to grab something and come back out, turn her on, and the temp needle is in between the middle and hot, started her up and she went back to middle within 15 seconds

is this normal? this never happened before until today or maybe it has and i never noticed cause i dont drive right away most times from driving home from work

i always try to let her idle a few minutes before turning her off, i read it in the a4 book that came with my car to do so if driving hard or long trips

 

This is an ongoing question that I haven't heard a real answer to yet. As long as it goes back to normal, you're good. I think it might have something to do with the thermostat though. I put on a new one about a month ago and it never happened since. The stock temp is set at 195 deg. (someone correct me if I'm wrong). The new one I put on is set at 180 deg. AND has a failsafe mechanism on it. I think maybe the lower temp. setting helps a little. When you turn off the car the coolant isn't circulating anymore, so it'll heat up a little and cause the temp. to rise when you start the car up again after a short stop, like getting gas or stopping to get a cherry slurpy.

 

Sounds like an issue with the controller for the electric fan which should still come on even when the key isn't turned on.

 

Where is the controller anyway? I think you're right man. For as long as I've owned this car, the fan has never come on when the car has been off, even after hard driving like on other cars I've had.

 

i fixed my hot issue with a second slim line e fan. Im running a g2 on a 30v and the heat spike made me nervous and with out ac the fan relay doesn't kick. so i have a slim line e fan on a toggle switch. about 1-5 miles before parking car ill turn the fan on. than let car sit at idle for about 1-2 minutes.
still if i forget when i pull into traffic it will start to creep up above half. its never gone above the first tick after halfway, but it still makes me **** myself when i look down and its hot.
im getting over it though

 

I've been having the same problem in my TT. I know its a fan issue for sure and not the thermostat because I can kick defrost or A/C on to automatically turn my fans on and temp drops. I found my fan controller to work sometimes (fans kick on when car is off) and sometimes it doesn't.

 

If it goes above half while driving, then that could be a thermostat or water pump issue.

 

IIRC the fan controller is mounted on the driverside along the frame rail.

 

im having a similar problem with my 03 a4, when i drive it doesnt sit perfectly in the middle its always like slightly on the other side of the middle and freaks my the hell out because i've rebuilt the engine once already do to last owners idiocracy, and what i want to do is put on a thermostat that opens at 150f like i had with my previous b5, i want to do this because i live in Virginia and its hot here by that i mean most summer it stays in the 90's and gets above 105 and stays in the 50s in the winters, i've been looking everywhere but i cant figure out which thermostat would fit since my current one sits inside the housing and i rather not spend days waiting for one to come in while my car is apart, I have heard that there is a thermostat thats used in ford trucks that is the same and opens at 150f but i dont know what model year or engine so im kinda stuck