Yes, the Waterboxer takes a little while to warm up. Especially in
colder weather with the heaters on. 5 minutes is no concern. The engine
has a lot of exposed surface with a lot of coolant capacity. If the
engines warms up to a consistent temp and stays relatively steady while
traveling, than things are probably normal. Make sure the t-stat bypass
valve is closed. You can check the t-stat by observing where the gauge
reads when the hoses to the radiator start to get warm. If coolant is
flowing before the engine is warm, the T-stat is going bad.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of James Benthall
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2005 5:51 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: How long does it take your Vanagon to warm up?

Hi all,
I think my 87 Westy is starting to take a lot longer to warm up.  Is
this a
sign of
something bad happening?  I have been told that VW's take longer to
warm up,
but five minutes seems excessive to me.  [I recently (two months ago)
re-plugged
the idle stabilizer back up, and I am wondering if this could be the
problem?  My
mechanic swears it runs better without it, but I can't believe German
engineers
would make something that they didn't feel the engine really needed.]
I am scheduled to take her on a 2800 mile trip next month (Minnesota and
back)
so this is coming at a very inoportune time ;-)  Thanks for any  advice.
James in Houston, Tx.
87 Westy (The Phoenix)