Afternoon all... hopefully someone can answer a couple of questions regarding issues with my wife's '98 VW golf GTI turbo.
Had the thermostat changed about 2 months ago as the temp gauge never actually reached 90, once replace all seemed ok with gauge. Unfortunately in my rush to buy the part it was a cheap part not VW and what I've now noticed is that the hose from the thermostat housing or the radiator isn't getting hot, only warm, and the fans don't come on.
So my questions are... does the water flow through the thermostat away from the engine toward the radiator .... or from the radiator to the thermostat....and could a faulty thermostat cause a cool water pipe?
Would this in turn cause the fans not to come on? ... logic says this is the case.
another small issue is that when driving, if you back of the accelerator pedal and then accelerate sometimes the car will 'jolt' slightly, (like a slight misfire) not a prolonged misfire, could this be down to the throttle body needs cleaning? it's a low mileage car for its age so I'm wondering if this has a effect on things clogging up.
Sorry for lack of detail, unfortunately I'm no mechanic!

