So, the early warning flashing coolant level led alerted you of the hose
fault well in advance of damage but you were unprepared to deal with it
and pressed on until you almost cooked your engine. And this is the
fault of VW? You really think another sensor twice removed from the
actual fault would have been better than the one you paid insufficient
heed to? By the time an oil temp reading would go up very much the heads
and head gaskets would be way too hot. I agree that it is a weakness to
have the (2.1 -2wd) temp gauge sensor in plastic external to the engine
(though there is nothing unusual about this in newer VW and various
other makes). It assumes coolant flowing in the system and drivers
ignore the coolant level warnings at their peril.

Likewise the alternator led, should it come on while driving. Same belt
turns the water pump so if the belt fails the alternator light comes on.
Some people think, oh, not charging, better not drive too far on just
the battery. In reality these warning indicators mean STOP STOP!!!

Mark

Greg Potts wrote:
>
>
> At the core of all this though, there is a problem I am wondering how to
> solve... The telemetry that VW designed to monitor conditions in our
> engines is TERRIBLE!!! And as it ages it is not getting better.
>
................