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Date:         Tue, 28 Jan 1997 18:27:26 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Tonya Pope <galba@premier.net>
Subject:      Re: Thank you for temperature answers!

Coolant level sensor 101--

Disclaimer--I'm not getting this from any manual, so take with a grain of salt. Information based on archives and foggy memory.

Sensor uses coolant as a conductor. As long as level is sufficiently high enough, a complete circuit is formed. Air is a very poor conductor (duh). Thus, too low a level of coolant breaks the circuit and SHOULD make the light come one. Likewise, disconnecting the sensor SHOULD make the light come on since the circuit will no longer be complete. Incidentally, a light coming on while the coolant IS high enough could indicate a) faulty wiring, or b) too low a concentration of coolant. This is because pure water, despite popular opinion, is also a very poor conductor of electricity.

In all likelihood, your sensor is fine. For a warm fuzzy, you should be able to use a multimeter on the two pins of the sensor (while in coolant) and read a relatively low amount of ohms (most likely not zero, unless your coolant is a VERY good conductor, but close).

Since the light requires a completed circuit, your 'probable cause' is a short in the wiring, i.e. somewhere along the lines the wires to the sensor have been broken and are touching each other. It could also be caused by one being shorted to ground, but I'm not sure without a manual to look at. This can't definitively be checked at the sensor end because the wires may have been shorted on only one side of the break.

Look at the path they take through the engine compartment. They may be laying on something that gets real hot (like anything in the engine compartment!) that melted them internally somehow.

I'd really suspect wiring if I were you. But again, note my disclaimer!

In regard to radiator fan, mine kicks on about 2/3rds of the way up, a little past the light but not too far. It usually only kicks on when I've got the AC going, or am sitting in stop and go traffic. For normal driving, it stays the right temp so it's not needed. It doesn't have to stay on for long either as it seems to cool off back to normal pretty quick.

Tonya 87 Vanagon GL 74 S. Beetle


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