With an inefficient radiator, the van should have a hard time losing heat,
not gaining it.  I'd suspect the thermostat either MIA or stuck open.

Karl Wolz

|-----Original Message-----
|From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
|Peter T. Owsianowski
|Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2011 7:35 PM
|To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
|Subject: Re: Engine running COLD
|
|I'm sure the experts will chime in, but that sounds like a less than
|effective radiator. They do get gummed and you have no way of knowing what
|DPO (dreaded previous owner) ran thru that WBX.
|
|Can't imagine life without a Westfalia, I'll bet it feels good to have one
|back in your life!
|
|
|Pete
|'79 Westy "Aardvark"
|'87 Westy "JoesVan"
|WWW.Busesbythebeach.com
|
|
|On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 21:21, Gregg Carlen <gregg.carlen@gmail.com> wrote:
|
|> Hey list,
|>
|> I finally got my new (to me) van earlier this week. Picked up a 90 Westy
|to
|> replace my 85 Westy that my wife and I sold a few years back. Have to say
|> I've missed having a Vanagon and glad to be back in one.
|>
|> So, as no suprise, I have a laundry list of repairs and maintenance to
|take
|> care of (the 4 different car tires is another story...), but the one that
|> has me a little stumped is that the engine runs cold. By cold I mean the
|> needle barely comes off the bottom of the scale, if at all.
|>
|> I'm in Northern Virginia, so its just below freezing most of the time
|> lately. The symptoms I've got are the temp warning light flashes when the
|> van first starts and stays flashing for several minutes, then goes out.
|The
|> needle never makes it off the bottom of the scale, unless I've driven for
|> about 20-30 minutes and then stop and idle for a while. Then it will rise
|> just off the bottom of the scale, but never get up to running temp.
|>
|> Took a 3 hour round trip up to visit Dave O. in Maryland the yesterday
|and
|> same thing. The van never got up to temp. Never got anything but warm air
|> out of the front heater. The rear heater was a 'above-warm' but never
|hot.
|>
|> Since I've seen SOME movement on the scale, I'm thinking the temp
|> guage/sensor is okay. The PO said he never had any problems with it. Now,
|> since this was a Miami van all its life, I'm suspecting the PO pulled the
|> thermostat.
|>
|> Any thoughts about what might be causing the low temp I'm seeing? Any way
|> to
|> check for a thermostat without pulling coolant hoses (and making a mess)?
|>
|> Thanks,
|> Gregg
|> 90 Westy (finally!)
|>