Greg, when was the last time that you had your radiator removed and sent to
a radiator shop for a professional cleaning.  At 35 deg. F air temp., van
should stay nice and cool even with prolonged idle.

I had similar problem with my '84 when I purchased it 6 years ago.  Did as I
suggested above, and problem has never come back.

John Lauterbach
Macon, GA
'84 7-passenger

----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Kriss" <carat90@LYCOS.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2003 7:33 AM
Subject: Van runs hot in traffic jams

> Have a 90 Carat with an auto trans. Engine has maybe 150K on it. The van
runs fine, minimal oil useage and almost no coolant useage. Normal driving,
running around town, or at 60mph on the highway, the temp guage always stays
cool below the idiot light in the center of the guage. But when I get stuck
in a traffic jam, after a few minutes the van runs hotter with the guage
needle above the idiot light. I was stuck in a 5 mile backup in NYC Sunday
night moving along between stop and go up to maybe 15mph. (over an  hour of
creeping along). Outside temp around 35 degrees. The needle was above the
idiot light and once or twice the fan went on. Van never came close to
overheating. Air flow I'm sure was probably minimal in front of the van.
Once through the backup, and up to a steady 40+ mph the needle went below
the idiot light. Rest of trip van ran cool.
>
> Warmed up the van for 15 minutes yesterday morning and needle never went
above the idiot light. Running around town for an hour or so yesterday, van
ran cool as usual.
>
> What goes? Is this normal?
>
> My guess is that the cooling syatem is a bit under-designed for traffic
jams.
>
> thanks
>
> Greg
>
>
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