Date:         Tue, 21 May 1996 13:50:00 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@gi.com>
Subject:      That's some heater!


Found that the cooling fan had decided not to play reindeer games after
my wrestling match with the V6anagon's clutch a few weekends ago. The
engine normally runs pretty cool whenever the bus is moving forward, the
cooling fan never coming on until the temp approached 215F or so, which
it never did in normal driving.

But it got above that today in a traffic jam, with no sign of life from the
cooling fan-- probably due to my expertise at wiring it back up after
having the engine out.  I was sitting there going nowhere, watching the
needle climb and wondering what to do,

Finally turned on the (transplanted) Volvo heater that sits under the
rear seat. And the temp came down in a *big* hurry. Like, above-boiling
down to 170F in about 60 seconds-- you could practically see the needle
move.

Normally, coolant always flows thru this heater core, but the fan stays
off until you hit the switch on the dash, which I finally did. But I
find it hard to believe that that little heater core can dissipate so
much heat, as to bring the engine temp down that fast. It's always been
a powerful heater, but *wow*.

I'll re-wire or re-fuse that radiator cooling fan tonite.

Anybody else have any experience controlling engine temp with your
heater? Watercooled only, obviously, VW or otherwise. Can a heater have
this much oomph? Or do I have its return hose connected near the temp
sensor of the engine, or some other oddity?
 ______________________________________________________________________
           _                                            ______________
    ______//________    Steve Maher    smaher@gi.com   //__][__||____\\
   /o _   |  -| _   \   San Diego, CA     75461,1717  (o _-|       _ o|
   `-(_)=======(_)---'                                 '(_)-------(_)-'
 '66 Mustang Coupevertible      '89 Son Sherwin        '80 VW V6anagon

                      http://www.wp.com/IrishMafia

  "There are plenty of jobs to be had-- I have three of them myself!"
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