Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:34:19 -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: Engine running COLD
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the guy lied to you ..
either because he didn't actually know and didn't want to sound like he
didn't ,
or just to get rid of you.
'parts moron' ..you got it.
Some are great and sharp .....but not your average one.
yes....all german t-stats ( that I've ever seen at least ) have the temp
stamped in them, for vanagons it's usually 80 or 87 degrees C.
80C is probably still just below the LED on the gauge ..
and it would get to that temp in say, 5 miles or so, normally ..
so sounds like it was running totally cold to me.
it's a very common failure.
As I said earlier, if I test a dozen used wbxr t-stats as many as 3/4 of
them open too soon.
Scott
turbovans
----- Original Message -----
From: "Oxroad" <oxroad@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2011 2:48 PM
Subject: Re: Engine running COLD
> Gregg--
>
> On my 83.5 1.9L water-cooled I had a similar problem which was caused by
> installation of the "cooler" thermostat.
> I think the "cooler" thermostat is 80 degrees instead of the stock 87
> degrees.
>
> I ordered the stock thermostat from a VW dealer in Reno, NV where I was
> and
> while it had the stock thermostat part number on the box
> it had the number "80" stamped in the metal on the actual thermostat. When
> I
> brought that up at purchase the parts moron, I mean Parts manager there
> said
> those numbers are internal numbering and mean nothing.
> Well....hmmm. What to do?
>
> So I installed it. The bus ran cold. The needle never got up to the LED
> indicator and the heat wasn't so heat-y. So I ordered another stock
> thermostat and guess what? It had the number
> "87" stamped on it. (Strange how those numbers coincidentally coincided
> with
> the opening temp....grrrr).
>
> Anyway, new 87 degree thermostat and she ran as usual.
>
> I don't mean to jump the gun on this, but if someone put in the cooler
> thermostat or no thermostat in your rig they may have been trying to
> compensate
> for a sluggish radiator. Although I have to say the radiator replacement
> isn't a terrible job to have to do and the new radiators were about $500
> for
> the part
> when I did mine. Now I think they are more in the $150 range.
>
> But, maybe someone fell into the trap I was in and just installed the
> cooler
> 80 degree thermostat.
>
> Best,
> Jeff
> 83.5 Westy
> LA,CA
>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 6:21 PM, Gregg Carlen
> <gregg.carlen@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Hey list,
>>
>> I finally got my new (to me) van earlier this week. Picked up a 90 Westy
>> to
>> replace my 85 Westy that my wife and I sold a few years back. Have to say
>> I've missed having a Vanagon and glad to be back in one.
>>
>> So, as no suprise, I have a laundry list of repairs and maintenance to
>> take
>> care of (the 4 different car tires is another story...), but the one that
>> has me a little stumped is that the engine runs cold. By cold I mean the
>> needle barely comes off the bottom of the scale, if at all.
>>
>> I'm in Northern Virginia, so its just below freezing most of the time
>> lately. The symptoms I've got are the temp warning light flashes when the
>> van first starts and stays flashing for several minutes, then goes out.
>> The
>> needle never makes it off the bottom of the scale, unless I've driven for
>> about 20-30 minutes and then stop and idle for a while. Then it will rise
>> just off the bottom of the scale, but never get up to running temp.
>>
>> Took a 3 hour round trip up to visit Dave O. in Maryland the yesterday
>> and
>> same thing. The van never got up to temp. Never got anything but warm air
>> out of the front heater. The rear heater was a 'above-warm' but never
>> hot.
>>
>> Since I've seen SOME movement on the scale, I'm thinking the temp
>> guage/sensor is okay. The PO said he never had any problems with it. Now,
>> since this was a Miami van all its life, I'm suspecting the PO pulled the
>> thermostat.
>>
>> Any thoughts about what might be causing the low temp I'm seeing? Any way
>> to
>> check for a thermostat without pulling coolant hoses (and making a mess)?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Gregg
>> 90 Westy (finally!)
>>
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