You could have let some air into an otherwise "sealed" system.  You should try
bleeding the coolant system, lots of info in the archives and the Bentley on
how to do this.

--
David /NJ
85 Wolfsburg Westy "Beatrix"
90 Fox "Sampson"
http://home.comcast.net/~maurio11/

> I recently purchased my first Vanagon, an 86 Synchro.  The ignition wire popped
> off my starter solenoid the other day and I disconnected a coolant hose to
> access the connector.
>
> Afterwards, the red light on my temperature gauge flashed after the vehicle had
> been running a few minutes, but the temp according to the gauge seemed to be
> normal.  I then tried to flush/refill my coolant according to Bently.  Now, the
> temp gauge maxes out after a couple minutes of driving.
>
> Could someone be so kind as to advise me what I could be doing wrong and/or walk
> me through how to correctly fill/flush the system.
>
> Thanx in advance.
>
> Hugh
> 1986 Vanagon Synchro