Club 80-90 Forums

Hi,

I've just spent the weekend down in Croyde in my Autohomes Komet 2.1 Petrol Automatic. Its been off the road for a while now, whilst I installed a new interior. This is close to completion, so I thought I'd give it a test run.

When starting, the red light always flashed twice, at which point I would start it and majority of the time it would start fine (I have a starter motor problem). However, I got caught up in some heavy traffic within 30 minutes of leaving home and the engine started to cut out when stationary, it would then take a few attempts to restart. After this first occurred the red flashing light no longer flashes twice it now flashes a lot more (6-10) before attempting to start it. This has not changed since.

My question is; does anyone know what could have changed/caused this issue?

I have checked oil levels and coolant levels and they both seemed fine. Yes the starter motor is on the blink and I am hoping to replace soon but they're not cheap. Once running, it runs lovely and there are no abnormal readings on the temp gauge. My only problems are that it takes a while to get it started due to the starter motor and now it cuts out when stationary (not every time but quite a lot).

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

The red light is meant to signify over heating. You don't have to wait for it to stop.


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Thanks for the reply.
What does the red light signify? I'm a little confused as to why (after it cut out) that the light now flashes 10 times rather than the 2 times it had done previously.


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Sorry, didn't read your post properly.
If it's over heating, why am I not getting a high temp on the temp Guage?
Where is that temp measured from?


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Flashing red light actually signifies low water or faulty sensor. Not overheating - although that would eventually follow. Open engine hatch with engine cold, undo dalek cap on bottle over on left and make sure its brimmed. If it is, the sensor may just need cleaning - you'll see the plug-in connector. Don't ignore flashy light - its the only warning you get before temperature needle goes skywards.

Left bottle should be brimmed. right one to level mark only. If a topup puts out light after a few moments, all fine and dandy but keep an eye on it! If it still flashes, remove sensor and investigate and/or make sure plug on the sensor is secure. Actual temperature sensor/probe is on thermostat.

I presume we are talking about the red light in the temp gauge. It should flash a few times (10?) when ignition is switched on, this is normal self test. If it goes out after that and doesn't come on again then there is no problem with coolant. It will flash after the self test if the coolant level is low or the coolant temperature is too high (as measured by the gauge circuitry). If it starts to flash when the gauge is normal that is a coolant level warning, or an electrical fault. The light has nothing to do with engine starting and there is no purpose in waiting for it to go out.
If we are in fact talking about the oil pressure light, on vans with "buzzer of doom", when the ignition is turned on, the light starts to flash and continues to flash until engine is started and oil pressure opens the switch.

Thanks for the replies CovKid and marlinowner.
Sorry, my description may have been misleading. It is the red temp light above the clock, it only flashes prior to start, I've had no issues with it flashing whilst running. It's only habit that sees me wait for the flashing to cease before I start. To be honest, other than the starter motor it's running fine, my only concern is why it started to cut out when at idle and stationary. And after the first time it cut out, I noticed that the self test flashing had changed frequency and I just associated it with the cutting out. The left bottle is full and right bottle filled to the line. Many thanks again for your responses.


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Answer still holds. It might be in the temperature scale bit, but its not a temperature light. It is a low-level water warning. They do flash (well, sometimes) but thats normal anyway. If it goes out, no worries but you don't need to wait for it to go out. Just drive - forget about it. If however it comes on when driving, or stays flashing - check your water levels. Thats all.

If it cuts out at idle, you may well have an air leak or if it only does it from cold, auto choke needs a slight turn to cover it.

I'm not 100% sure that's right - I have no low water level sensor but I do have the flashing led at startup and it does also start flashing when I overheat (painful memories)


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What makes you think you have no sensor? You must have or the above wouldn't happen.

The reason light flashes at startup is because its doing a 'self test' - nothing more. The gauge has a circuit behind it that does just that.

The reason it flashes when you overheat is water is boiling and level dropping - usually when top-up bottle is depleted or expansion cap isn't allowing topup water in anymore and again, level has dropped. It is not a temperature light - not sure how many ways I can put that. The gauge shows temperature, LED shows low water - thats how VW designed it. You can get the flashing light even if temperature isn't high - yet. Its telling you (if its not faulty) that water has dropped in expansion bottle. It does however draw your attention to temperature gauge despite fact they do different things. Read:

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Co ... ht_on_dash" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Expansion bottle with dalek cap removed, sensor behind it with plug attached. Sensor has two probes which sit in bottle. As long as those probes are sitting in water, light stays off. Simple. Not my engine bay by the way.



There are a LOT of T25s running around with faulty or cheap dalek caps that don't operate as they should.

The light definitely flashes if overheating, regardless of coolant level - in fact the low coolant warning circuit simulates overheating by grounding the temp sensor in short pulses, they are too short to effect the gauge but they trigger the flashing light (early low coolant circuits didn't pulse, they sent the gauge to max.)

Indeed, as by then the whole scenario has changed but you can certainly get the flashing before it actually starts overheating and fortunately its the one thing that at least draws your eye to a problem.

I've always found the light kicks in way before the needle moves up the scale but everything depends on the condition of cap, bottle and maintenance as to whether it works as VW envisaged. Few if any would be lucky enough to spot a sudden climb on the gauge alone. It works well enough but really has to be in good fettle if you're to get adequate warning and avoid damage. I found In had a plethora of hard to spot faults on mine that I only really got to the bottom of by replacing much of the system, including bottle, cap, and at least three hoses.

I guess its possible to see elevated temperatures before light flashes too but luckily I've not had that scenario, although I've seen my temp gauge hit max after the water pump suddenly gave in. Right saga that was.

Still, better than the bug where the only real indication of engine destruction due to say a snapped belt (and a cessation of cooling) is the ignition light coming on.

I know there's no sensor cause my tank is an older one with metal cap and no sensor! Also no dalek and no joy of blowing through the dalek making it quack.. I did have dalek cap envy at one point and toyed with upgrading to the new technology....


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You should still have a sensor on an early setup (with metal cap) it should be fitted on top next to the cap similar to the pic above which is a late tank

no sensor, there's a mark on the tank where it could go but it's not been cut out. There are wires hanging around the diesel filter which do nothing - not a million miles from there to the expansion tank. I will investigate tank options, would be a nice sensor to have


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