My gauge temperature sender went bad (open circuited), and temperature always read cold. Replaced the sender. Now at normal idle, the gauge reads past the LED and almost up to the "hot" tick mark on the gauge. I don't believe that the coolant is hot for the following reasons: 1. The radiator fan doesn't turn on when the needle is reading very high, yet turns on when I'm idling in hot weather (as I would expect). 2. The voltage at the ECU from the ECU temperature sender looks normal. (I have wired a breakout box to the ECU like a Digitool.) 3. I inserted a thermocouple (temperature sensor) into the reservoir tank (not the overflow tank of course) and it reads 210 deg F. Now, this temperature may be a little high, but not high enough to read as high as it does on the gauge. I've replaced the sender 3 times, once from a different manufacture. They all behave the same. I checked out a different gauge, and it behaved the same as the one I have. I've searched the archives many times. I only found 2 references to the "normal" operating temperatures for the coolant; they suggested a range from 200-210 deg F. Can anyone else confirm this? I see from the Bentley wiring diagram that the low level coolant electronics are connected to the gauge temperature sender. Could a faulty low-level coolant circuit cause my problems? I've been working on this for some time, and it's got me stumped. Any suggestions? Thank you very much. Have enjoyed the list very much. |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.