Joel Walker wrote:
>you could feel along the hoses to see if they are uniformly hot to the
>touch. or scan them with that infrared themometer (put the van up on a
>lift to make it easier).

I just felt up my hoses and the one going into the radiator is very hot.
The return hose is much cooler (like bathtub or warmer temperature).  They
did'nt seem to be pinched by the spare tire but i ran it without the spare
tire just to check and it still overheated.  The return hose seems to go to
the upper part of the T-stat housing which feels cool on the top and hot on
the bottom.  Then a fat hose connects to a metal pipe which goes to the H20
pump where the coolant gets pumped back into the engine (correct?).  This
situation seems to indicate that my T-stat is'nt opening or the t-stat
housing/hoses are clogged.  Or anything else?  This is a new t-stat.  I
tried running without the t-stat before changing the radiator but the
engine overheated and the t-stat housing leaked because it needs the metal
part of the t-stat to hold the o-ring and take up space.  SO i will try to
rip the insides out of my old t-stat and put it in there and see if it
still overheats.  Maybe my new t-stat is defective.  I thought it might
have been upsides down but I just pulled it and its in there the same way
bentley depicts it.  Also is it possible that my H20 pump is running weak
and it does'nt have enough force to get the coolant through the t-stat?  If
playing with the t-stat does'nt work i will disassemble the h20 pump and
check the impellars and 0-rings.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me with this problem.  This problem has
tested my patience and caused considerable aggrevation/loss of time and
money.  I wish everyone the best of luck with their vangons!

Long live the list,
Andrew Fox