Yup, VW thermostat for reasons given previously.  Check for the o-ring.  The
local dealer here used to sell the Wahler unit they bought from Bow Wow at a
much higher price than my Bow Wow price!

On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 8:52 PM, craig cowan <phishman068@gmail.com> wrote:

> My 1.9 vanagon has most recently been only getting to a temperature where
> the needle on the guage is about a half a needle's width below the LED. In
> the fall it would run perfectly right over the LED but now it's
> substantially cooler. It puts out heat just fine, but takes a while to get
> the needle moving and then only goes to that point.
>
> I'm guessing i need a new thermostat, but my thermostat is only a year old.
> There might be some air in the system (though very little). I doubt that
> could have anything to do with it though.....
>
> Do you guys reccomend a particular thermostat or course of action? Dealer
> thermostat?
>
> -Craig
> '85GL turned WESTY
>
> On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 7:34 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <
> scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>
> > re
> > "the other subtle difference is  that the Subaru system mixes air to
> > control
> > the temperature in the
> >
> >> mixing / distribution box'
> >>
> >
> > Sorry...........I don't believe that's true, not even a little.
> > It is true that Subaru, almost uniquely I believe, uses full time heater
> > circuit flow .  But nowhere is air mixed into the heater circuit.
> > That's a quite bizarre statement - maybe that's not what was actually
> > meant.
> > .
> > On  most cars, and vanagons, when you close the heater
> valve/s.......there
> > is no, or very minimal coolant flow in the circuit...........and
> thermostat
> > sensing takes place from the main coolant in the engine.  Whether heater
> is
> > in use or not, the thermostat reacts to main circuit coolant.
> >
> > Subaru has their thermostat sensing .............what coolant the t-stat
> > sees and reacts too.................from the heater circuit,  so they
> need
> > full time heater circuit flow, winter and summer.
> > Only brand of car that does it that way, far as I know.  That needs to be
> > accommodated in Subaru-vanagon engine conversions of course.
> >
> > Many more mdoern cars have their thermostats mounted on the bottom of the
> > engine, in the return side of the main circuit. Subaru does.
> > So do all inline four gas and dissel VW rabbit/golf/jetta engines,
> starting
> > in about 1975, and continued still, over 30 years later,  in modern FWD 4
> > cylinder VW engines.
> > Can't see how it's 'better protected from the elements" though...........
> > it's closer to the road and yuck from the road.
> >
> > the guage sensors are in about the same or comprable place on the 2
> > engines.
> > In the subaru it's in the water manifold...........
> > a cast aluminum pipe across the top of the engine, joining the two heads,
> > and under the intake manifold.  The waterboxer vanagon engine has no part
> > thing of course.
> > The vanagon  guage sensor is located right near the water pump
> > ............that single contact temp sensor there. If you have AC, it's
> > hard
> > to see under the compressor. If no AC.......you can look right in there
> and
> > see it plane as day.
> > Scott
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Rocket J Squirrel" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
> > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> > - Show quoted text -
> > Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 8:44 AM
> > Subject: Re: Takes a darn long time for the heater to come up to speed
> >
> >
> >  Interesting! And were is the Subaru's temp gauge sender located in
> >> relation to the 1.9l's? Is one is a better spot to more quickly "see"
> >> the rise in engine temp?
> >>
> >> --
> >> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> >> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> >> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
> >> Bend, OR
> >> KG6RCR
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On 3/7/2009 8:16 AM David Milo wrote:
> >>
> >>> Aside from the length of the hoses, the other subtle difference is
> >>> that the Subaru system mixes air to control the temperature in the
> >>> mixing / distribution box, whereas the Vanagon was designed to use a
> >>> manually controlled coolant modulating valve (yes, even in the rear)
> >>> controlling flow through the heater core to control temperature. In
> >>> the Vanagon, you can almost (but not quite) completely shut off flow
> >>> through the heater cores.
> >>>
> >>> In the Subaru, the coolant flow through the heater core is constant,
> >>> and is actually the coolant circuit that modulates the thermostat
> >>> (located on the bottom of the engine, return hose from the radiator).
> >>> As others have pointed out, it is much better protected from the
> >>> elements.
> >>>
> >>> Dave
> >>>
> >>> On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 10:16 AM, Rocket J Squirrel
> >>> <camping.elliott@gmail.com <mailto:camping.elliott@gmail.com>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>    I reckon there are two things that I need to observe: 1. the time it
> >>>    takes for the temp gauge to start moving from the cold pin (Mrs
> >>>    Elliott's Subaru comes up a lot sooner), and 2. how soon before one
> >>>    starts to feel tendrils of warmed air come creeping out of the
> vents.
> >>>    Again, it's much quicker in the other car. If these are
> significantly
> >>>    longer time than others, like Jake, observed then something there's
> >>>    something fishy going on. Given that the thermostat is such a pain
> to
> >>>    get to on the 1.9l engine, I'll want to be fairly sure that
> >>>    replacing it
> >>>    is a worthwhile project.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>    --
> >>>    Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> >>>    84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> >>>    74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
> >>>    Bend, OR
> >>>    KG6RCR
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>    On 3/6/2009 9:47 PM Jake de Villiers wrote:
> >>>
> >>>        On account of this thread I paid attention this morning on the
> >>>        way to work
> >>>        in the grey van.  It took about a mile at ~30 degrees F. to feel
> >>> a
> >>>        difference, about 3 for it to be warmish.
> >>>
> >>>        I've noticed that the rear heater gets warm a lot quicker on
> >>>        both vans.
> >>>
> >>>        On Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 5:35 PM, alfred bagdan <abagdan@shaw.ca
> >>>        <mailto:abagdan@shaw.ca>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>            If you have the rear heater valve open, most of the hot
> >>>            coolant goes
> >>>            through
> >>>            the rear heater.  Try closing the rear heater and see what
> >>>            happens.  Also
> >>>            replace your thermostat in case it is stuck open.  If the
> >>>            temperature gauge
> >>>            does not go up to the halfway point in cold weather, you
> >>>            will probably have
> >>>            to replace the thermostat to get some decent heat.  Its a
> >>>            bitch of a job,
> >>>            but doable.  When  I replaced the hoses last summer I also
> >>>            put pipe
> >>>            insulation on the hot lines and also replaced the
> >>>            thermostat and the water
> >>>            pump.  What a difference that made.  I live in Edmonton,
> >>>            Canada,  and I
> >>>            drove the van once this winter when it was -30C ( ~ -20F )
> >>>            and it was warm
> >>>            as toast inside, and didn't take long to warm up.
> >>>
> >>>            Alfred
> >>>            85 Westy
> >>>
> >>>            ----- Original Message -----
> >>>            From: "Mark Tuovinen" <mst@AK.NET <mailto:mst@AK.NET>>
> >>>            To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> >>>            <mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>>
> >>>            Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 2:49 PM
> >>>            Subject: Re: Takes a darn long time for the heater to come
> >>>            up to speed
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>             You just send her up here to drive my Syncro on a
> >>>            cold(subzero) morning,
> >>>
> >>>                she will appreciate your van much more afterward.  My
> >>>                kids ride to school
> >>>                with a blanket over them for warmth and they are
> >>>                wearing winter coats,
> >>>                hats, mittens, and boots at the same time.  Vanagons
> >>>                have a rather large
> >>>                area to warm up and the front core is a long way from
> >>>                the heat source.
> >>>                Though it won't cure your problem you could put pipe
> >>>                insulation on your
> >>>                front heater hoses under the van.  This will reduce
> >>>                the heat loss that
> >>>                occurs before the hot coolant gets to the core.
> >>>                 Another and more
> >>>                difficult issue to deal with is that the front heater
> >>>                only draws air from
> >>>                outside, it does not recirculate cabin air.  Thus
> >>>                while your heater core
> >>>                is trying to warm the air, the air is trying to cool
> >>>                the core.  Not an
> >>>                issue in moderate climates but those in extreme cold
> >>>                areas suffer because
> >>>                of it.
> >>>
> >>>                Mark in AK
> >>>
> >>>                ----- Original Message -----
> >>>                From: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM
> >>>                <mailto:camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>>
> >>>                Date: Thursday, March 5, 2009 4:35 pm
> >>>                Subject: Takes a darn long time for the heater to come
> >>>                up to speed
> >>>                To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> >>>                <mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> >>>
> >>>                 My wife's Subaru Outback's heater is ready to put out
> >>>                some serious therms
> >>>
> >>>                    in about 3 minutes of drive time. The temp gauge
> >>>                    comes up quickly,
> >>>                    whereas the temp gauge in ol' Mellow Yellow needs
> >>>                    another 5-8 minutes of
> >>>                    driving in freezing temps to really start to creep
> >>>                    upwards and for the
> >>>                    heater to start doing anything interesting.
> >>>
> >>>                    I'd like to think that the difference is due to
> >>>                    the awesome efficiency of
> >>>                    the WBX engine . . . I'd like to think that, but
> >>>                    something tells me that
> >>>                    a 2006 Subaru engine is a tad more efficient. So,
> >>>                    does anyone have any
> >>>                    idea why the 1.9L engine is so sluggish compared
> >>>                    with the Outback's
> >>>                    engine when it comes to making hot water available
> >>>                    to the heater core?
> >>>                    Mrs Squirrel gripes about how long it takes to get
> >>>                    warm air to come out
> >>>                    the heater and I'd like to have some
> >>>                    highly-technical answer to respond
> >>>                    with. You know, baffle them with BS?
> >>>
> >>>                    --
> >>>                    Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> >>>                    84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical
> Banana")
> >>>                    74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San
> >>>                    Juan Capistrano
> >>>                    Bend, OR
> >>>                    KG6RCR
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>        --
> >>>        Jake
> >>>
> >>>        1984 Vanagon GL
> >>>        1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
> >>>
> >>>        Crescent Beach, BC
> >>>
> >>>        www.crescentbeachguitar.com <http://www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> >
> >>>        http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
>

--
Jake

1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"

Crescent Beach, BC

www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27