Overheating, need help!

[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?

[mlawrence2]

i had the same problem and eventuly the cheak engine lite went on,
i took it in and they said that an oil line had gotten cloged and i needed to get a new one.

[nick26]

i ended up replacing the water pump and that fixed it.

[bammercole]

Glad the water pump fixed your problem, this car can have water pump problems. The idea I was going to suggest was that there was a clog in the cooling system causing coolant not to flow properly and then having the car overheat. I had this once in another car I owned where a blob of coolant was blocking flow. I guess this will just be an idea in case someone ever comes back thru this post with a similar issue.