I recently was driving my golf TDI down a long grade on a hot summer day
with the AC on.  I was in third with the grade pushing the engine at about
3000rpms.  The coolant temp started dropping off the center mark.  I was
surprised.  The AC would have been dumping heat in front of the radiator.
And I hear that car has circuitry to make the gauge lie and stay in the
center almost all the time.

It's always nice in the van when I crest a climb and start heading down to
watch the temp drop.  I say Ahhhhhhh for the van.
Edward

On Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 8:39 PM, Mike Miller <mwmiller6@att.net> wrote:

> That's the Sherwin Grade.
>
> I've come down it at 160 and my temp gauge never budged from normal.
> Oh, did I mention? Not in a van.
>
> You can go to Bishop to hunt, fish and drink, and pretty soon you get
> tired of hunting and fishing.
>
> Mike
>
> Used to live there a while back.
>
>
>
> On Jul 20, 2011, at 4:20 PM, Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
>
>  On Wed, 2011-07-20 at 15:04 -0700, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
>>
>>> there is a big climb northbound on 395 in California ...north of
>>> Bishop.
>>> A diesel vanagon giuy was telling me about going up that at only
>>> about 30mph
>>> ..
>>>
>>
>> I did that climb -- the Sherman Grade -- in my van in 2008 in August,
>> pulling my camping equipment trailer, in midafternoon, easily over 100
>> F. First gear was all I could use. I watched the coolant temp gauge
>> like
>> a hawk. I also watched my rear view mirror as more modern cars with
>> better aerodynamics and stronger engines blew up the grade behind me,
>> hoping they'd see my blinkers. I can't imagine what the oil temp was.
>>
>> I've blown the cooling system on two cars going up that thing in
>> summer.
>> Had to limp back down to Bishop. Guess which end of town the two
>> radiator repair places are? North end, end closest to the grade. With
>> all the cars that fail, they do a land office business, I can tell
>> you.
>> So do the cheap motels at that end of town, folk overnighting waiting
>> for the rad shop to get the parts and finish the job. Bishop is not
>> the
>> most interesting town in the world.
>>
>> Same deal for the desert grades I clumb over last summer. Second gear?
>> Forget it. Too steep, too much campin' and kayakin' tackle along. Just
>> grind up the hills and hope for the best.
>>
>> -- RJS
>>
>