I searched the archives with "temperature warning red"  and "coolant
warning red" as the seeds before posting this.

My lovely wife just called. She was driving the 84 Westy to be picked up
by an auto transporter and hauled up to northern California. We'll meet
up with it this coming weekend for a nice camping trip up the coast. She
had been in her office for 1/2 hour, then started to drive. After about
5 minutes the red coolant warning lamp under the temp gauge started
flashing. The temp gauge was in the normal, midway location. She pulled
over, turned off the engine and called me. After a few minutes she
re-started the engine and the lamp started to blink again.

Of course the owner's manual and the Bentleys are both in the van.  I
helped her locate the manuals, then we both read about what might cause
the lamp to blink (new vehicle to us). She restarted the engine and the
lamp continued to blink. She inspected the coolant level, and because it
was hard to see, she rapped on the side of the filler tube to see the
coolant jiggle. It was midway between min and max. Back of the van is
filled with camping gear, so no inspection of the belt was made.  No
steam smelled or seen.

Re-started the engine and this time the lamp blinked for the usual lamp
test period, then went dark. She drove the five miles to the drop-off
point with no trouble.

1. Uh -- this is one of those things that "fixes itself" . . . right?  ;-)

2. I have a bottle of the good coolant in the vehicle. I should also
bring  a new belt -- can someone advise the kind of belt I might be able
to get at a Pep Boys or equivalent? I won't have time to order from a VW
shop.

--
Best regards,

Michael Elliott
Carlsbad, CA, where the weather is always pleasant, rarely interesting -- the "Lite Jazz" of weather
cell: 760 519 0193