Hey Mate!  Good to have you here.  I believe that your temp. problem could be
from air in the cooling system.  A real problem with the vanagons....er,
kombi's.  A competant VW service garage should know of this and be able to
properly purge the air.  But even the best of them find this to be a real
stickler.  Good Luck.

Mike Garske

87' syncro

Frank Loi wrote:

> Hi there!
> I've been receiving the list for a couple of months now and get a buzz from
> reading it. I especially like the comradery amongst you Americanos. My name
> is Frank and I've been a VW fan for about 12 yrs. I've tried to own other
> vehicles but in the end just gave up and decided that vw kombis were the
> best. I've owned a 66 split (pride and joy for a few years until it became
> noisy), a 77 camper (too much weight), 77 micro with astron water cool
> conversion ( what was I thinking!), 76 kombi - now that was a real
> workhorse!! and now a 92 transporter (vanagon), Yee Hah! - man do I love
> these machines.. I liked servicing and tweaking the airs, and now feel a
> total git with the electronics, water, and other high tech stuff on the 92.
> ;-(
> It took me months of searching the net to find this place until I learned
> that in America you call them vanagons; How did they get that name?
> You fellas heard of a kombi or transporter? ;-)
> Here's a few questions and thanks in advance:
> Do you guys have the wave happening over there?.. In Australia the kombi
> wave only applies up to '79 (old shape) vans - a real bummer - I still wave
> in the 92 - and still get the cold shoulder.
> How many Australians on the list? Is there an Aust list?
> Shortly after buying the van I took it to get serviced (115000km) When I got
> it back I noticed the van lacked a bit of power - not much - but enough to
> make me think about it. They also did the full radiator flush - after which
> the motor ran a bit hotter (needle width) they took it back and adjusted the
> thermo but still the same, is this normal?
> When driving up grades (not nec steep) I notice the temp gauge rises two
> needle widths then settles back after the slope - is this normal?
> my gearbox pops out of first on deceleration or hitting a bump when
> descending steep grades - Any thoughts?
> The Side sliding door whether slammed or gently closed, frequently doesn't
> latch in the rear section. It looks closed but the rear unlatches when
> driving. help!
> And lastly for a vanagon friend: traction -lack of - lim slip diff - are
> they available in Australia?
>
> thanks
> frank
> 92 kombi