My 88 GL did exactly what yours is doing. It was the thermostat.!

Installed a new one, and Voila! Proper indication and operation again.

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Alan Bosch wrote:

> There are vanagon owners out there that would love for their vans to run
> cooler than they do.  However, mime appears to be not warming up at all.
>
> Here's the situation...  Since Thursday night, the temp needle on my van
> has not risen above the white marker on the low end of the temp gauge.  It
> will come up off dead bottom, but no where near "normal".  The front heater
> blows warm air after a period of time.  The water pump seems to be
> functioning properly as I can take the pressure cap off the coolant
> reseviour and see coolant being pumped back in.
>
> I have ordered a replacement t-stat, which is probably the easiest thing to
> replace.
>
> This has me stumped.  Anyone care to offer any insite...?
>
> Alan Bosch
> & Phred ('88 Wolfsburg)