Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:02:31 -0800
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: Minimal Heat (2.1)
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as long as the 4 10mm hex head screws come out of the thermsotat housing ok
( I've seen the glued in nuts they screw into just spin before, and had to
grind the heads of a few in place........
so be careful ) ......
as long as those 4 screws come out, in a 2.1 waterboxer it's quite an easy
job.
- quite easy as thermostat jobs go.
you want the hottest one you can get.
I highly recommend a quality german brand one ..........
I think the normal 'hot' one is 87 Degrees C.
here's a trick that works in many cars in very cold temps.
Do not have the heater/s on at first.
Make sure your heater is off for the first 5 minutes or so of driving.
The heater circuit is a full time flow system............so it cools the
engine ..........if it cools the engine too much, the engine might never
get to full operating temp........and never get into closed loop even. There
have been factory bulletins ( Subaru ) about this very thing.
so you drive with heater fully off at first, .........that helps the engine
warm up a little better.
Waterboxers are very slow to warm up actually.
my personal 2.1 waterboxer engine in an 85 Wolfsburg
Weekender.........there's an 11 mile route from a friend's house to
mine........
she'll do the first 9 miles with the temp gauge barely registering.......
after that she starts coming up to temp. But in general, waterboxers are a
little slow to reach full operating temp.....
and the best thing you can do is have a new german, high quality thermostat.
And....the warmest you can get. Cooler is not better, summer and winter,
Warmer is better.
if it's not running right on mid-defection on the temp gauge ........well,
if it's running below that, it's not running warmly enough, summer and
winter.
I even put in 195 degree F thermostats sometimes.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Lincoln" <magikvw@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2009 6:54 AM
Subject: Minimal Heat (2.1)
> Ok, I have next to no heat in my bus. I've never had this issue before. My
> mind says it could be a stuck or dead thermostat. However, it has also
> been
> like -6 to -12 her all week so I have also considered it could just be too
> damn cold out :)
>
> Coolant levels are good - although the last few months I have has to add a
> bit about every two weeks or so (I see no leaks at all and do not see any
> signs of coolant in the oil).
>
> So I thought I'd replace the thermostat with a new one jusat to be sure.
> I've heard that can be a PITA. Any thoughts, tips, etc on my lack of heat
> and replacing the thermostat?
>
> --
> Thanks,
>
> Jeff
> '90 Carat (Grover)
> '86 (We call this one Parts)
> '78 Bus (Melissa) Patty's Bus
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