I just bought a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8T. It's been only two days and this morning I went to turn the car on and the temperature gauge light came on. I pulled over and let it cool off for about twenty-five minutes. The light turned off. What is going on? Is this a serious problem? The dealer I bought it from wasn't a VW dealership. Should I take it to a VW dealer?

 

Could be your out of coolant, your water pump, thermostat, cooling fans, fan thermo-switch orcoolant temperature sensor. Turn your car on while it's cold and squeeze the coolant hose that goes to your thermostat housing. See if there is coolant flowing through the hose if there is it's your thermostat stuck open. If it isn't flowing through allow the engine to warm up and see if it starts flowing. If it doesn't your thermostat is stuck closed. If it's fine your thermostat andwater pump are o.k. Keep it running and see if yourcooling fans start up. If they do, at operating temp your temp sensor should read on a multi-meter between 300-400 ohms if I remember correctly.

 

i agree unfortunatly its hard to tell.....but since the water pumps are a weak point i would look at that first