There you go. The OTHER van was the one with the problem. The typical
fully warmed up temp reading when everything is stock and working
properly is with the temp gauge needle touching the LED. That means it
can be below the led but just touching, above the led but just touching,
or anywhere in between those 2 places. That is a pretty wide range but
every part of the system has plus/minus tolerances. A gauge that is at
the high end combined with a sender at the high end will result in a
reading that is always at the high end of typical.

Please don't tell me how some van or another has always read outside my
described zone. I'm sure there are some but those are not typical. I am
basing my opinion on the many dozens of Vanagon I have worked with and
couple dozen I have actually owned over the last 20 years.

As our Vanagons get older, the tendency is for the temp gauge reading to
get lower as more resistance develops in the wiring connections and
ground paths. Finding and cleaning the dash ground for the instrument
cluster can fix a low reading of the temp gauge as well as a spurious
blinking of the led.

One possible cause for a higher than typical reading is the temp sender.
I have purchased several NEW senders recently that caused the gauge to
read high. I just threw away some that I bought and had on the shelf for
a project because testing in hot water showed them all to read 1 1/2
needle widths above normal. These were the thread in type used in 1.9
and Syncro models and were of European manufacture. They came from a
very large wholesale parts supplier, used by a huge number of repair
shops and retail parts vendors.

Mark

JordanVw@AOL.COM wrote:
> In a message dated 2/6/06 1:41:49 PM Eastern Standard Time, lalofs@rcn.com
> writes:
>
>
>
>>.
>>  Are you really sure that the engine is overheating?
>>
>>
>
>
> larry the engine is not overheating.   i just said it was running hotter than
> what im used to in my other 84 vanagon.   can u check the resistance of the
> t-stat while its in the van?
>
> chris
>