Engine oveheating while driving

[A41.8QTM]

Took a road trip last weekend and at one point noticed my temp gauge rising and eventually got up to the edge of the red section of the dial. Odd thing is I was driving 70mph and it was all of 75 degrees outside so cooling airflow should not be an issue. I was in WV and the temp would rise when climbing and then I could generally get it to drop back down to a reasonable level while coasting down the back side. I've also had an ongoing issue with my radiator fans since late last year where they tend to kick on to high speed for several minutes when I shut the car off. I realized about a month ago that the small fan was dead and replaced it so both fans now work but they still crank up when I shut the car off. It seems like there must be an issue with a temp sensor that is related to both the fans and my more recent temp gauge issue? I haven't had a chance to scan for error codes since my road trip but I had no errors as of last week despite the radiator fan issue.

 

[eurocars]

Could be the temp sender, fans going bad again, stuck thermostat or a combo if some/all

 

[A41.8QTM]

I don't think the fans are going bad - just a gut feeling. They started cranking up full speed back in Sept/Oct and I didn't realize the small fam was dead till last month. I have a feeling the fans aren't getting accurate info on engine temp and therefore cranking up after turning the engine off. But the temp gauge thing is new as far as I'm aware.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[eurocars]

Temp gauge and ECM temp sensor are two different sensors. Have you done any VCDS logging to see if it's the same? Also when you run your ac while stationary, do both fans kick on?

 

[A41.8QTM]

Just noticed today that both fans are running on high pretty much all the time even without the AC on. I'll scan for codes tonight but don't have a CEL.

 

[A41.8QTM]

Turns out the fans were working properly all along. Either my water pump or thermostat were going bad and the engine was running hot. Over the past week it got worse and I finally got an engine coolant temp warning after only 10min of driving. Had the water pump and thermostat replaced on Friday along with the timing belt and all is good.