> The intermittent temp thing is usually a bad thermostat, bad gauge connection, or low coolant/combustion gasses getting into the coolant system.
>
> Dennis
>
Thanks, Dennis (and Scott and everyone else who responded) my fear at this point is that it is combustion gasses getting into the cooling system. As I mentioned, I found receipts from a VW specialty shop ( that I know of and would trust) from 2004 and at 104,000 miles saying the head gaskets were leaking. Now, would it be possible to nurse an engine along for 6 years and 34K miles with leaky head gaskets? FWIW, in the 48 hours it's been parked in my driveway it has not leaked a drop of anything. Although my last '84 did this same thing, and it definitely dis not have leaky heads, it was a 2.1 that i transplanted into it with new water pump, thermostat, etc. and the temp gauge and gas gauge would both act up together. I replaced the resistor, the sending unit, the gauge, nothing ever fixed it. Jeff