The vanagon cooling system is very complex compared to most other water cooled engines. When any mechanic has a plan to better a system that has remained essentially unchanged throughout 20 years of production by removing something so critical as a thermostat, run, don't walk away. Just as both Dennis and John have stated the thermostat is an integral component in a properly functioning cooling system for the vanagon. There are too many other cooling issues to contend with on this engine to risk compromising the engineering and design of the system. Your mechanic is being rather short sited on this issue and maybe you should consult a resource such as roadhaus.com to find another repair facility if this is typical of the advise of this mechanic with regard to your type of vehicle. David Clarkson 90 Westy (237k)
************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. |
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Vanagon mail messages have been archived.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.