Temperature gauge all over the place

Faults and Technical chat for the Skoda Kamiq
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DTEG
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:31 pm

Post by DTEG »

Can't be 100% certain it hadn't happened before because it's not where one tends to concentrate one's attention, but noted the temperature gauge on our SE (so analogue dash) being all over the place for the first couple of minutes of running today. Wildly slewing from cold to hot to middling, but no obvious effect on engine running/idle etc. Can't be sure if it's a sensor or a dial issue, but noted it in our log of electronic oddities we're keeping at our dealer's suggestion, and will be keeping an eye out for any repeat.
Kamiq 1.0 110 SE manual, new since January 2021

Lofty
Posts: 256
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2020 5:05 pm
Location: Bristol

Post by Lofty »

Only experience I had was back in mid winter when very cold morning...
Allowed the engine to reach the 90o temperature then turned on the heater blower. The temperature suddenly dropped back to almost zero. I can understand why but never noticed this on previous cars.
Apart from that the gauge is very stable.
DTEG
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:31 pm

Post by DTEG »

Interesting possible connection. Unusually, had the blower on (with A/C) from start yesterday. Will see what happens when I'm next out and about. I'm not talking gradual drifts of the needle, but serious "this dial is possessed" comedy slewing. Will also try reenabling the oil temperature maxidot option that I think is available, as another metric.
Kamiq 1.0 110 SE manual, new since January 2021
DTEG
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:31 pm

Post by DTEG »

Did same again today, possibly settled down when I turned the blower off. Needs a bit more testing! Any idea what/where the dash gauge is physically measuring? If it's in the airflow itself, probably not surprising if it goes a bit mad on a cold morning.

Edit: usually coolant temperature, hmm. Probably worth checking levels.
Kamiq 1.0 110 SE manual, new since January 2021
Lofty
Posts: 256
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2020 5:05 pm
Location: Bristol

Post by Lofty »

Unlikely taking the temp from the air flow. There is usually a small sensor somewhere in the cabin (climate control models) having looked at the dash etc in my car the only position the sensor could be is in the overhead console. There are 4 small ‘Grills’ that could be sensors OR they could be acoustic alarm sensors. Both the handbook & internet manual fail to identify which.
I assumed in my situation is that when the blower is switched on it in some way opens the thermostat in the engine cooling system (will stand corrected) . But as I said although my temp gauge dropped suddenly & rapidly it slowly began to rise again & didn’t fluctuate so this could be a red herring....sorry, no further help.
DTEG
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:31 pm

Post by DTEG »

This is "engine temperature" rather than cabin, i.e. that is about 90°C nominal.

Checked coolant levels also, and seemed fine. Didn't seem to be having any adverse effect beyond the erratic dial, so just keeping an eye on it and noting for the record.
Kamiq 1.0 110 SE manual, new since January 2021
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