[nick26]

hello all,
I recently bought a 02 A4 quattro 1.8T 5spd with 70K miles and after a week of it driving fine, just as I was getting home one day the dash started flashing coolant and the temperature gauge was maxed out! I checked the coolant level and it was fine, so I did some reading and found out the the temperature sensor(by the firewall) can cause problems. So I replaced that, and made sure there wasn't any air bubbles in the line, and still it over heats. Then I figured the thermostat might have gotten stuck closed (even though I know they are designed to fail open). So I replaced that and it still over heats. So now I'm guessing it must be the water pump? Is there anything left aside from the water pump that could cause it to over heat? The car is not leaking or smoking at all so I think all my seals are good. I'm not that familiar with these cars yet, any ideas?

And as a side problem, now when I start the car the fans go on full blast for a minute or so before they shut off. Could the new temperature sensor(from autozone) I put in be messing that up?