Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 18:58:55 -0500
Reply-To: Darrell Boehler <midwesty@TAOS.MIDWEST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Darrell Boehler <midwesty@TAOS.MIDWEST.NET>
Subject: Re: AC and engine temps
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
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Hi GM,
I couldn't agree with you more, you are right on on this one. Drive
hard and take proper care of things mechanical and all will be fine IMHO.
If vw didn't want us to use 95 hp at 4.8 K rpm they shouldn't / wouldn't
have designed it as they did. I use nearly all the power my 86 can deliver
on launch and cruise 70-75 . I do maintain my van well and watch the
gauges closely.
Darrell
>
>Prompting me, GMBulley, the Communications Consultant, and resident
smart-a**,
>to write:
>
>Well, although I am usually the "conservative" one on various Vanagon
>Subjects, not in this case. In fact, I am the anti-Chris, in this case. :)
>
>While meticulous in my maintenance, I drive my cars and vans as if I carry
a
>grudge against them. In fact, the REASON I am meticulous in my maintenance,
is
>that I hate to "baby" anything. I beleive people and appliances (like our
>VW's) should be ready at all times to perform at their full potential. I'd
>hate to have a van that couldn't hang with anything I throw at it. We spent
a
>small fortune on Suzanne's (my tall, lovely, and talented wife) bus to make
it
>rock solid. That included an auxilary oil cooler, a 150% capacity oil pump
to
>deal with the heat/overloading punishment I expect my vehicles to take.
>
>I drive only slightly above the speed limit, but I usually accelerate like
a
>fireman, with the throttle to the floor through first, second, and third,
at
>least. The AC stays on CONSTANTLY in the summer, regardless of outside
>temperature, or number of fat-bodies/amount of firewood in the vehicle. I
like
>to see condensation forming on the outside of the windows, the true signal
the
>AC is WORKING, baby! :)
>
>The owners manual speaks very clearly about the temperature gauge: It is
>perfectly NORMAL for the gauge to go up high in the temperature range, as
long
>as the light does not come on, or the needle is not outside the normal
range
>(clearly marked, for your visual convenience). An ounce of common sence is
>warranted. If it is 32 F degrees outside, and the gauge in-explicably
climbs
>to the top of the scale, better check it out. If you are driving through
the
>desert with the AC on and a load of fat-bodies in the van, going over
>mountains, uphill, both ways, going 70 mph, the van is going to get warm.
>
>I don't have the engineering background that some of you folks do, but I'd
be
>willing to bet that one of you auto-engineer whiz kids can de-bunk us on
>this...From my line of thinking, the cooling system in a vehicle is not
>difficult to over-engineer, that is design extra capacity to deal with the
>most extreme situations. Increase cooling area on the radiator, increase
the
>flow through the radiator (Anyone who has seen/felt the fan on their
vanagon
>on HIGH can tell you, that vehicle can shed heat in a hurry, if it needs
to!)
>
>So, why worry? VW designed the thermostat, radiator size, fan switches, and
>warning systems to preserve the vehicle when it gets hot. As long as you
are
>absolutely meticulous in your maintenance, drive the p*ss out of your VWs.
And
>use your singals, and allow others to merge. :)
>
>gmbulley
>cary, NC
>
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