Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 19:16:41 -0800
Reply-To: mike stainbrook <MIKE90260@PEOPLEPC.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: mike stainbrook <MIKE90260@PEOPLEPC.COM>
Subject: Re: Overheating? Something to consider
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interesting-will have to drop the spare and take a look.thanks. Mike
Subject: Overheating? Something to consider
I would like to relate my experience with our 1990 Westy on our recent trip
to Arizona from Vancouver Island.
On our trip back one tire developed a slow leak which forced me to put on
the spare tire while staying overnight in a soft, gravely campsite. Since
the spare had not been removed from it's cradle for a long time, I struggled
to get that thing out from under there. After some banged up knuckles and
forceful language the thing finally dropped.
So you ask, "What does that have to do with an overheating problem?" Well,
ever since I've had this van, the temperature gauge needle has been sitting
at about 2 needle widths above the red indicator light. The radiator fan
also would come on in stop and go traffic. The thermostat seemed to
function and the radiator was warm/hot from top to bottom. This overheating
was a nagging problem that I meant to get to eventually.
While driving along highway 1 south of San Francisco, I looked at the gauge
to see that the needle was just above the red indicator light. In other
words, it was running much cooler and at the right temperature. I stopped
immediately and checked everything I could think of. It all seemed OK, so I
started up and continued.
The needle now goes up to the right spot on the gauge and stays there.
The only answer I can come up with is that the spare tire was pushing onto
the plastic coolant pipes and restricting flow enough to cause a higher
running temperature.
Another problem that may be cured is the oil/buzzer alarm coming on. When
the oil was topped up close to the top line on the oil stick, driving hard
for an hour or longer and then bringing the rpms down quickly to 2000rpms
would almost always get the buzzer to go off. With the cooler engine
temperature this has not happened.
This list has helped me with many problems I've encountered, so I felt I
would share this. It is just another thing to consider.
I felt pretty good about this experience. I got a tire leak fixed, an
overheating engine cooled and maybe fixed the oil light/buzzer problem.
Happy travelling to you all!
Ed Wiebe
1990 Westy
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