Date:         Tue, 2 Jul 1996 22:29:18 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Alistair Bell <ui775@freenet.victoria.bc.ca>
Subject:      Re: 170 degree thermostat in '83 Diesel

On Tue, 2 Jul 1996, john wakefield wrote:

> I just encountered an after market thermostat for controling water flow 
> to the radiator.  The start of the opening movement is supposed to occur 
> at 170 degrees F. and that would probably have it fully open by about 190 

I wonder if a lower temp thermostat is really the answer. If the rest of the 
cooling system is working properly, i.e. the rad is cooling the fluid 
that reaches it, then whats to be gained by sending that water to the rad 
5 - 10 degrees C cooler? If the rad is not cooling the fluid that reaches 
it then it doesn't matter at what temp the thermostat opens.

I say check the big hoses/tubing that runs the length of the van 
(partially blocked-corroded), check the rad (have it tanked or recored), 
check the output of the waterpump.

A really off-the-wall suggestion (and maybe it was mentioned before in 
the thread about aux water and oil pumps) is trying to fit a slightly 
samller water pump pulley. The idea would be to maintain a good flow of fluid
to the rad even at idle. I don't know how feasable this would be, I 
suspect the pulley would have to be custom made.


My diesel westy came with a manual overide switch for the rad fans.
Didn't make much sense up here in B.C. (car originally from Sacramento) 
and is definitely not needed now after I had my rad recored (and it 
seems, strangely, that the gas engine conversion runs cooler than the 
diesel).


alistair


p.s. the bit of sheet metal above the muffler is actually a functioning 
heat shield. If you have lost yours I suggest getting a replacement, it 
does reduce the amount of heat radiating from the muffler into the engine 
compartemnt, esp. the coolant overflow tank.