Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2018 23:26:01 -0600
Reply-To: Abel Longoria <houstonphotog@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Abel Longoria <houstonphotog@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Thermostats especially in colder weather
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Sometime ago i tracked a problem I was having to a stuck thermostat.
Opened the housing and sure enough. It was stuck open.
Here's what I experienced... I'm still currently running a 80* thermostat
and recently purchased an 87* again hoping that maybe the new one is more
accurate.
I just wanted to mention something I noticed in regards to the two
Thermostats I purchased.
Background info:
I noticed my existing thermostat was stuck open which never allowed the
engined to fully warm up in cold temperatures. I have a AEM water temp
sender mounted near the thermostat housing on my 1987 Westy in order to
monitor water temps.
---------------------------------
November 21, 2016
Thermostat - 87 degree (stock) temperature
*025.121.113F* (556)
I installed the 87*C Thermostat in my van and while on the road I noticed
it seemed to run pretty warm. On a flat road, 60mph, low stress and about
40 degree outside temperature I noticed my water temp gauge read at about
208*F. The 87*C should open around 188*F. This warmer water temp made my
oil temp increase as well...
---------------------------------
With the temps reading above what I would expect in cold weather I opted to
switch it out to the cooler 80*C thermostat. If I was reading warm in 40*F
weather I didn't want to try my luck in 100*F Texas summer weather.
---------------------------------
December 12, 2016
Thermostat - 80 degree (lower than stock) temp
*035.121.113* (867)
I just got home from a road trip with the new 80*C thermostat installed and
i noticed a night and day difference. Mimicking the earlier conditions, on
a flat road, 60mph, low stress and about 40 degree outside temperature I
noticed my water temp gauge read at about 177*F. The 80*C should open
around 176*F so its pretty much spot on.
---------------------------------
I'm not sure if maybe there's a bad batch of 87*C thermostats out there or
not but the 7*C difference should only be about a 12*F difference... but
with my first 87*C thermostat it seems to be a 31*F difference which is
quite a bit.
On Jan 5, 2018 11:14 PM, "Dennis Haynes" <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> wrote:
If you look at more of my responses you will find my thoughts on lower temp
or defective thermostats. There are a number of reasons you want the engine
to get up to temp quickly and maintain it.
Dennis
From: Toomey Douglas [mailto:drt@uoregon.edu]
Sent: Thursday, January 4, 2018 5:22 PM
To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Thermostats especially in colder weather
This has been an interesting thread. Two years or so ago a new radiator was
put in my 87 van and after that the temperature gauge ran consistently
below the red indicator light; prior to the new radiator it ran on the high
side of the red light. This did not really concern me, until recently,
when I noticed that it is harder to get the cabin warm in the winter.
I had mistakenly thought the new radiator was more efficient. From this
thread, it seems that the thermostat may not be working well. Except for
the slight lack of heat, is there any downside to my gauges indicating a
cooler temperature for running?
Thanks,
Doug
On Jan 4, 2018, at 1:24 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM<mailto:
d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>> wrote:
Of course in colder weather it will take longer for an engine to warm up.
With a thermostat that cracks open to early it may never warm up. Most
vehicles with small engine do not have 5 gallons of cold coolant available
so even if a stat opens early they still warm up. Another reason is that
the intake air used for combustion is also colder so a lot of cooling
occurs just from intake air. This is a real problem with diesels as they do
not have throttles so every piston stroke takes in the full volume of air
and at idle there is just small amount of fuel burning to warm it.
However, your engine still uses the mixing approach and the heaters alone
have a lot capacity for cooling the engine. If the temp gauge seems to only
go to some point lower than normal it could be a bad or lazy stat.
Dennis
From: Neil N [mailto:musomuso@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 4, 2018 3:12 PM
To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com<mailto:d23haynes57@hotmail.com>>
Cc: vanagon <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com<mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>>
Subject: Re: Thermostats especially in colder weather
Thanks for that brand suggestion Dennis. Though I'm running a different VW
engine in my Vanagon, I have to wonder if the thermostat is part of the
reason my heater is barely adequate in cooler temps (e.g. 0ยบ C) Amazon also
shows a "Mahle Original TX...." for my engine.
Though my engine has a different cooling system routing, it seems that in
colder weather, my temp gauge needle to take longer to get into position. I
thought that was normal. Seems not.
Neil.
On Thu, Jan 4, 2018 at 11:52 AM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com<
mailto:d23haynes57@hotmail.com>> wrote:
..... I just installed a Mahle TX 24 87D. First road test, WOW! Granted it
is now ~50 here and sunny. Up to temp, gauge needle dead center in ~3
miles. I will be stocking these. And man the heat works again.
You can get them here.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D3DH4J6/ref=oh_aui_
detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1<https://nam01.safelinks.
protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%
2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB00D3DH4J6%2Fref%3Doh_aui_detailpage_o01_
s00%3Fie%3DUTF8%26psc%3D1&data=02%7C01%7C%7C1a3b0e85ec0b409e379a08d553c1
9a53%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636507013334212702&sdata=
RUm%2Fo7fesW1R6jrd9JvD%2BdodLAekqqpbux5LPO1fSMA%3D&reserved=0>
Dennis
--
Neil n
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