 |
| 2002 Volkswagen Beetle Front Right View |
Yesterday I went outside and started to crank up my 2002 Volkswagen Beetle (26 degrees Fahrenheit). The light signaling that the engine is cold came on (as always) and I began to back out. All of a sudden my car starts beeping and flashing the red “hot” engine light at me. Keep in mind, my car doesn’t have a temperature gauge
so I really can’t tell if it’s overheating or not. But I need to know
how to check my radiator fluid (and if that’s what I need to do)?
Answer: A couple of things could of happened. Either
the car was overheating from not enough radiator fluid because of a
leak or a broken water pump or the car was not overheating at all and it has a malfunctioning engine temperature sensor on the wiring harness.
First check to see if the radiator coolant is low by checking your owners manual inside the glove box. It would be under the chapter under fluids/servicing. It will show you little black and white pictures of what the radiator fluid reservoir looks like and how much to fill it. Open the hood by pulling the lever under the dashboard on your left on the drivers side. Go in front of the hood and pull that little plastic hook that just popped out, then push/pull the hood up. If it stays up good, if not take out that metal stick attached to either the hood or the side of the engine to hold it up finding the little hole that it goes in.
Check the fluid in the reservoir to see if its full. Be mindful that you might mistake it for the windshield washer fluid or possibly the power steering or brakes. DO NOT put the wrong fluid in the wrong place. I knew someone who once tried to put motor oil inside the air cleaner and into the carburetor and they were thousands of miles from the nearest town.
If the fluid is low, then fill it. If its full, then that means your temperature sensor is bad and it is telling your engines computer that the engine is hot when it is actually cold. Its a “temperature bulb” with a little resistor/thermostat inside of it. They are $5 parts but can sometimes be very hard to remove and replace. There might be more than one depending on the manufacturer.
To replace that temperature sensor, you will need the Volkswagen service repair manual for around $30 USD. $65 Canadian. You might need special tools to remove various engine components before you can reach that cheap little $5 sensor that always seems to go bad. Even in multimillion dollar Jets/airplanes like Boeing 747s.
First check to see if the radiator coolant is low by checking your owners manual inside the glove box. It would be under the chapter under fluids/servicing. It will show you little black and white pictures of what the radiator fluid reservoir looks like and how much to fill it. Open the hood by pulling the lever under the dashboard on your left on the drivers side. Go in front of the hood and pull that little plastic hook that just popped out, then push/pull the hood up. If it stays up good, if not take out that metal stick attached to either the hood or the side of the engine to hold it up finding the little hole that it goes in.
Check the fluid in the reservoir to see if its full. Be mindful that you might mistake it for the windshield washer fluid or possibly the power steering or brakes. DO NOT put the wrong fluid in the wrong place. I knew someone who once tried to put motor oil inside the air cleaner and into the carburetor and they were thousands of miles from the nearest town.
If the fluid is low, then fill it. If its full, then that means your temperature sensor is bad and it is telling your engines computer that the engine is hot when it is actually cold. Its a “temperature bulb” with a little resistor/thermostat inside of it. They are $5 parts but can sometimes be very hard to remove and replace. There might be more than one depending on the manufacturer.
To replace that temperature sensor, you will need the Volkswagen service repair manual for around $30 USD. $65 Canadian. You might need special tools to remove various engine components before you can reach that cheap little $5 sensor that always seems to go bad. Even in multimillion dollar Jets/airplanes like Boeing 747s.
No comments:
Post a Comment