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Date:         Tue, 3 Apr 2007 05:26:45 -0400
Reply-To:     Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@UMICH.EDU>
Subject:      Re: 2 Cups low on coolant made my vanagon overheat?
Comments: To: THOMAS IN GEORGIA <vilaamerica@YAHOO.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <437415.69361.qm@web31807.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

a couple of things.

1. your van already has a radiator fan. you should test it to make sure it operates correctly.

2. i'm not super familiar with the diesel wiring and coolant sensors so take this with a grain of salt until someone else chimes in or you look it up in the wiring diagram. anyhow i assume that you are equating overheating with the coolant temperature light flashing. real overheating generally means that the temperature gets so high that coolant starts to boil (there is a relationship to pressure there). the diesels use a different coolant tank than the wasserboxer engines. in the early style wasser boxer engine there is a sensor in the tank. this is not a temperature sensor but a level sensor. perhaps your tank is designed the same way. in wasserboxer tank system if the coolant drops below the level the sensor can measure it makes the dash light flash.

the light is telling you in that case that the coolant level is low not that the van is overheating. in addition to that the light also flashes if the temperature level is going too high.

3. you need to find out where that missing coolant went. that is the important part.

jonathan

On Mon, 2 Apr 2007, THOMAS IN GEORGIA wrote:

> Hi, > I was driving through the Georgia mountains and my 1981 VW Vanagon high-top diesel was over heating, I had to drive slow and turn on the heater to cool it down. When I got to my camping spot, I saw that my coolant was low and added water, just 2 cups to fill it. When I drove it back, it did not overheat. Can 2 cups low of coolant cause it to overheat? Should I add a fan to the radiator? > > Thomas > > > > > --------------------------------- > Bored stiff? Loosen up... > Download and play hundreds of games for free on Yahoo! Games. > > >


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