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Date:         Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:30:09 -0800
Reply-To:     "Mark L. Hineline" <hineline@OCOTILLOFIELD.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Mark L. Hineline" <hineline@OCOTILLOFIELD.NET>
Subject:      Re: Substitute for aircooled thermostat
Comments: To: Richard Jones <jones@COLORADO.EDU>
In-Reply-To:  <4D63C17E.4070601@colorado.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

On Feb 22, 2011, at 6:00 AM, Richard Jones wrote:

> I think the thermostat doesn't move the flaps after > engine warm-up. It just helps the warm-up happen > faster.

I'm not sure whether you're right. I think that on a long down-hill grade the thermostat actually does respond and move the flaps. Why wouldn't it? The length of the bellows is directly related to the temperature of the fluid/gas inside it. It might not be quite as responsive as the proposed electrical device.

> > How about an old-fashioned "choke cable" from under > the driver seat to move the flaps? Do they even > make choke cables anymore? I put one on my '61 bus > when the Solex choke didn't work right....

My bus was originally a diesel, so it has the start cable, and I'm going to use that as a work-around.

> I think I have the bug thermostat on my '81. Is that > NLA, too?

Yes. The company that made these bellows thermostats is no longer making them. After-market dealers like Bus Depot and German Supply have the bug thermostats, which can be modified to use with the bigger engines. But the prices are $80 and above -- supply and demand, so fair enough.

The thermostat was a nice mechanical solution to a problem, but it required a supplier's commitment to tooling in order to provide it.

I don't know whether these devices could have been competently rebuilt. I do know that running the engine without a functioning thermostat has no immediate consequence. As long as the the flaps are in the fail-safe open position, it just takes longer for the engine to warm up, and the engine cools down under certain conditions. So while there is demand for the NLA part, there isn't sufficient demand that there is someone willing to leap into the gulf.

Today, if a car company were designing an aircooled engine from scratch, I'll bet they'd go for a step motor, circuit board, and thermistor rather than a mechanical thermostat.

Mark


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