Date:         Tue, 4 Aug 1998 12:49:37 -0400
Reply-To:     Bryan Feddish <bfeddish@NETREACH.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Bryan Feddish <bfeddish@NETREACH.NET>
Subject:      Re: How hot is HOT?
Comments: To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
In-Reply-To:  <19980804162104.18364.rocketmail@send1b.yahoomail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> My 83.5 Vanagon seems to run hotter.  I just had
> the radiator, thermostat, and fan thermoswitch
> replaced.  At idle in 80-degF weather, the
> needle is 2/3 of full scale -- way past the LED.
> But when driving, it stays just at the LED.
> I can hear the fan switch on at 2/3 of full scale,
> but I'm not sure if it is stage 1 or 2.  Any
> comments?  Is there a way to check if stage
> 1 or 2 is coming on?

        Once again I must say that I believe over half of the Vanagons out there
still have air in their system.  My temp gauge on my 83.5 NEVER goes any
farther than a little right of the LED even on the hottest days.  And when
it does it moves there slowly.  First, you must bleed the system as per
Bently but make sure the front is even higher than the 15 inches
recommended.  Also, make sure you have the Rpm's up to the recommended level
too.  AFTER this you let the van cool down overnight.   There will be some
air in the coolant tank (not the overflow), replace this with more fluid.
Drive the van around the next day and get it good and hot. Let it cool
overnight again.  There will be more air in there.  Replace it again.  Keep
doing this, mine took a week, every day until no more air is in that tank.
BTW, this will make sure your heater works properly in the Winter too.
        In addition, I have one of those fan switches that goes on a few degrees
earlier that I got from Kyle.  Actually I rarely hear the fan kick on except
after I shut the engine off.

Bryan