At 12:51 6/25/2004, Melvin Mudgett-Price wrote:
>I always thought the gauge going to max when the coolant was low was
>because the remaining coolant got hot real quick. Now I think about it,
>it does go to Max too quickly from a cold start. Isn't it a good tool
>though for bad, bad VW owners like me to let them know it's time to add
>more coolant?

It's because the gauge only lights the blinker when it senses an
overheat.  But the newer low-level controllers don't send a continuous
overheat signal, they just blip it long enough to trigger the light and
then let the regular temp signal reassert itself for a while -- the gauge
will blink for about three seconds after it's triggered.  This doesn't
change the average gauge reading enough to notice.

d

--
David Beierl - Providence RI USA -- http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage," '85 GL "Poor Relation"