Date:         Sun, 14 Apr 1996 23:32:22 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Remuse@aol.com
Subject:      Oil temps

I've had about a week with temp and pressure gauges installed and I'm not
much liking what I see. 

In light duty, generally under 10 miles, around town the pressure seems to
run 30 to 40 with temps around 210. Seemed perfectly fine to me. This weekend
I put the 81 camper on the road just for an hour at 55 to 65 mph in cool damp
weather and reasonably level terrain. After 15 minutes the temperature
settled in just slightly under 250 and the pressure about 20. When we exited
for the two lane the idiot light would come on as the pressure dipped below
10 at each stop. Put it in neutral with a blip to the gas and the light would
go out. Driving slower didn't have any discernible effect on the temp. It was
as though it had built up heat and just couldn't shed it.

Coming back today it was at least 10 degrees warmer and I ran 55 since it
seemed to like that better. Temps were around 230 to 235 and pressure 20 to
25 although the idiot light business was the same. 

The motor smells hot but not like burned oil. I'm not clear  on what the
dipstick test is but it is not uncomfortable to check the oil. I'm using
20-50 Castrol and the seal is in place as is the tin with most of the holes
plugged. At cold start-up the pressure is 60.

If this is normal I don't see how this thing will cope with 90 temps or any
kind of hill climb at all. Since there is no a/c of course, I don't want to
cope with 90 either but that is beside the point. 

If this not normal, what can I do about it? Do you trust the gauges or just
look for deviations from these norms? And what about the idiot light
situation; I hate to ignore a warning like that, it's like having a defective
heart monitor. Do I tweak the idle up?

Thanks for any ideas.

Weston