VW Golf

[Stupid8]

Have recently bought an old golf, the problem is that the water temperature light (The one that looks like a key in three wavy lines!) keeps on flashing. Any ideas what or why this is please? Thanks

[Mortartube]

Firstly check that there is enough water in the cooling system. If not add some. Otherwise you may need a new thermostat.

Get a Haynes manual (�20 - �25, but it will save you this in jobs you do yourself), the thermostat's usually a pretty easy job to do yourself. You will probably need some spanners and you will need a replacement thermostat. It shouldn't be too dear (less than �15.00 is my guess) and it will take about 30 mins to do.

If you have white smoke coming from your exhaust all the time and a lack of power, that suggests a blown head gasket and will require a partial dismatling of the engine. This is best left to someone with a little more experience.

[ntl_marc]

You didnt say how old the golf was! Is the l.e.d. built into the background of the temp guage? If so check everything is ok with the cooling system ie enough water, no leaks, all the sensors on the engine have wires connected to them ect. I used to have a Polo (c reg '86) and the guage had the l.e.d. built into the background of the guage and it kept flashing all the time, took it to a VAG garage and they replaced it cos its a known fault. Let us know if this helps.

[Stupid8]

Thanks a lot for your for your help you two - will get on the case tomorrow when I have the time to get under the hood. Let you know when it is sorted.