Lionel, 1) The coolant circulates through the heater(s) and the engine whether the thermostat is open or closed. 2) The engine has least wear at its design temperature. 3) The thermostat is not binary. It is closed until the engine reaches operating temperature, and then runs in a partially open state that keeps the engine at the target temperature. It compensates by opening or closing further in reaction to coolant temperature variations. 4) If the cooling system is working normally, during warm up the temperature rises smoothly to the design temperature and then stays there. (I understand that in some very cold conditions, running both heaters on a vanagon can actually keep the operating temperature below the design point.) Sounds to me, if your temperature gauge doesn't stay midway, you may have a bad thermostat, or some other cooling problem. Mike
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