At 11:01 PM -0400 9/21/05, Dennis Haynes wrote:
>Wait! Your running the engine to charge the AC and the cooling system is
>not bleed and functional? Of course you will consider the water boxer a
>bad design when you have all sorts of gasket or head problems. Yes, it
>is possible to have enough air in the system that coolant will not flow
>through the radiator. No flow, no fan, No engine cooling. No gauge, no
>knowledge of how bad things are. If the gauges worked before, there has
>to be a wiring error or you are missing a ground. The cooling system
>needs to be bleed while things are still cold. Only takes a couple of
>minutes.

Yeah, I checked it - it was fully bled and loaded with coolant.
It was just a suspicion...

It now looks like there's been a double sensor failure - both the one
in the thermostat and the one in the radiator.  I can get the
radiator fans to spin at both speeds by connecting across the
sensor's connector.  The gauge I haven't gotten to move at all, but I
didn't have a way to provide the correct resistance.

The nearest shop (Clear Lake VW) closed early so that the employees
could head away from the coast too.

The A/C compressor is also oozing oil, in addition to the previously
witnessed little bubbles of R134a.  Time for lots of expensive things
to be swapped out.  But that'll be after the storm.

I've given up on the van and we'll take the Jetta and the Audi out
into the throngs of refugees.  The van could have carried the family,
pets and baggage, but not without a functional cooling system or A/C.
The van's in the garage (a rarity).

Thanks to everybody for the advice.
--

bcnu - Grungy  (Baytown, TX)  opinions are just that.obviously.
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