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thermostat
This would indicate that the system is low on coolant when the gauge is hot. Not enough coolant to service the heater core.
change t.stat
1996 prelude temperature gauge reads low temp
I'm not a mechanic / technician but it sounds like your engine cooling thermostat is sticking open ( assuming that the electric engine cooling fans are not running continuously )
YOU MIGHT TRY FLUSHING OUT THE RAIDEATOR .ALSO ITS POSSIBLE THE WATER PUMP IS STARTING TO GO BAD.
Made for UK market
Could be you have a temp sensor for the ECM and a temp sender for the gauge. The gauge sender generally has one wire attached to it. The temp sensor generally has two wires attached to it. Perhaps you changed the wrong one.
Many things can cause this problem. The Jetta needs to be seen by a licensed mechanic to determine the exact cause.Assuming you are not getting much heat from the heater, the heater core may be plugged or the temp blend door mechanism is faulty. With the engine warmed up and running, open the hood, locate both heater hoses, feel each heater hose with your hand, if both hoses are hot you probably have a temp blend door problem. If one hose is hot and the other is only warm you probably have a plugged heater core.**seems to have proper heat from heater even when the temp gauge is low. The hoses I checked and both were warm. when I let it idle it gets up to temp but as soon as I start moving the temp jumps way down. Any more ideas?? ***Borrow an infared temp gun and measure the temp at the thermostat housing. See if it matches what the vehicles temp gauge says. I'm thinking maybe the temp sending unit is faulty. If the vehicle's temp gauge reads low and the heater is putting out good heat my guess is the gauge is off. Hope this helps.
You probably have a bad thermostat.
If the temperature gauge is reading below normal operating temp after driving a little while it may be that your thermostat is stuck open. I replaced my thermostat and it fixed mine.
If your gauge is normal your thermostats okay, so its got to be your heater core. Usually located behind your dash board. Easy to swap just a pain to get to. Or it could be your gauge is out and your thermostats bad, but usually a couple gauges would go out with them. Hope this helps a little.