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Date:         Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:56:17 -0700
Reply-To:     Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject:      Re: coolant level control unit location
Comments: To: David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=response

yup........ thanks for this : None on key-on? You should get several seconds of flashing then. If not, then the gauge internal circuit is toast. Or *possibly* regulator has failed and is feeding full system voltage to the gauge -- I don't know whether this would suppress the startup test, although I doubt it. I do know that undervoltage makes it flash continuously.

yes, no red LED ever........which draws my attention to the guage, and I always consider the voltage stabizer for any guage weirdness.

thanks for the info on the 'other' relay-like things further up in there. Never had to think about those before. I just looked at an 85 parts vanagon of mine, dash out - was an auto trans vanagon with AC......... there are 5 relay-like boxes up in there right above the multi-ground point.

gas guage seems normal so far. re "intermittent ground in the sender wiring, ' It's a 1.9 wbxr, 1984..........single contact guage temp sender. Ground for the sender is the sender screwed into the engine. But I havn't even started investigating grounds, which are an obvious place to start looking. those push-on spade ground connectors above the fuse box, they just can't work after 20+ years in my opinion.

I think i'll just appraoch it as 'LED d doesn't ever come on ' to start with. thanks for the control unit location ! I removed the level control unit from an 86......and turned on the key - LED still flashes as normal. the LED function is totally in the guage I would think. and it can be triggered, or course, by an outside input, like the level sensor system.

my first thought was it was doing the common 84 thing of turning on the LED and pegging the guage, from low coolant. and I found the pressure bottle cracked and leaking and mostly empty .....................so that got it running........ but on a test drive...............LED never ever comes on , even when first turing on the key......and the guage needle seemed to have a mind of it's own. I didn't ohm-check the sender for the guage yet.............should do that, but can't say I've ever especially seen a bad one for intermittlant erratic temp needle deflections. Instrument cluster and dash area- think I'll check/test a couple things at the engine end, then dive into the dash end. thanks for the prompt and thoughtuful repsonse ! scott turbovans

---- Original Message ----- From: "David Beierl" <dbeierl@attglobal.net> To: "Scott Daniel - Turbovans" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM> Cc: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 1:02 PM Subject: Re: coolant level control unit location

> At 03:34 PM 7/22/2008, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote: >>I need to identify which relay-looking unit is the Coolant Level Control >>unit in an 84 Vanagon. >>Not finding the info in Bently. Shows it for 86, but not 84 , that I can >>find. > > It's high up on the body under left side of dash. Very easy to remove > when the dash is off, not so easy when it's on. > > >>I also understand that one can put an 85 or later one in....... >>to 'fix' that handy feature on 84's where if the level is low, it also >>pegs the temp gauge needle. > > Yes. They both work by sending an overheat signal to the gauge, but the > later one sends in brief pulses that don't materially affect the gauge > position, taking advantage of the fact that the flasher runs for several > seconds every time it is triggered. > >>Am I on the right track here ? >>also, since i'm getting no flahsing LED in the temp guage at all on this >>84........ > > None on key-on? You should get several seconds of flashing then. If not, > then the gauge internal circuit is toast. Or *possibly* regulator has > failed and is feeding full system voltage to the gauge -- I don't know > whether this would suppress the startup test, although I doubt it. I do > know that undervoltage makes it flash continuously. > >>and the guage randomly reads very high...............my attention is going >>to the guage itself, the voltage stabizer, >>and the temp sender on the engine for the temp guage. > > If it's the regulator then gas gauge will read high along with temp gauge. > My best guess is an intermittent ground in the sender wiring, though a > failed level controller isn't out of the question. Suggest removing the > level controller to eliminate that possibility. I would *not* expect the > gauge itself to intermittently read high, even if the flasher circuit is > broken -- not saying it's impossible, but highly unlikely. It's > definitely not a problem in the level sender circuit to the controller -- > in that case the old-type controller would peg the gauge, not just read > high. > > -- > David Beierl - Providence RI USA -- http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/ > '84 Westy "Dutiful Passage," '85 GL "Poor Relation"


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