Date:         Fri, 26 Jan 2001 06:09:46 EST
Reply-To:     Oxroad@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jeffrey R <Oxroad@AOL.COM>
Subject:      where should temp guage needle sit?/was Re: New thermostat...
Comments: To: steph@uswest.net
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

In a message dated 1/25/2001 10:56:55 PM Pacific Standard Time,
steph@USWEST.NET writes:

> k a couple of weeks to get a new thermostat out of Bus Depot but
>  last week I popped a new one in.  BINGO!  It goes right up to a hair
>  above the warning light in the temp gauge.

This brings up that endless list debate about the temp gauge needle. Since
the new radiator was installed in my Vanagon my temp gauge needle sits just
inside the "safe" operating zone on the gauge but below, even I would say
well below the LED warning light. If Stephen's needle sits just above the LED
wouldn't that imply his bus is running much hotter than mine. So is one of
our busses running too hot or too cold? I mean my radiator fan comes on when
the needle gets up to about the center of the LED, so the needle rarely gets
above the LED warning light except in extreme conditions, and then sits JUST
above the LED.

And to clarify what I am calling the "safe" zone on the gauge, it is the
black area that includes the LED warning light above the white area at the
bottom of the gauge. In the terms I am using the "bottom" of the gauge is the
cold end and the "top" of the gauge is the hot end. (I think using terms like
"to the left" or "to the right" of the LED will be confusing since the temp
gauges are in different places on different model year Vanagons--on rises
right to left and the other rises left to right to the best of my knowledge.
The 84's for example have no tachometer so the temp gauge at the top of the
large clock while the 87 has tachometer and the temp gauge at the bottom of
the tach. FWIW my 83.5 Water-cooled has the newer model instrument cluster
with the tach, retrofitted, which  raises questions of the 1.9 liter and the
2.1 liter running temperature comparisons. I believe both engines use the
same thermostat and therefore would have the same operating temp, same gauge
sending unit, and should operate with the gauge needle in the same spot all
things considered)

Any ideas?

Jeff
83.5 Westy
LA, CA