hi Mike,
you could say what year and model vanagon this AAZ is in,
and what you are using for a temp gauge sender..

and what's the status of the level sensor and connector ...
it's tied into the temp gauge..
3 versions that I know of ..
'none' in 82 Diesel vanagon ,
a system that pegs the needle when the level sensor goes off, 83 and 84,
and 85 and up that doesn't do that.

a 'short' in wiring can cause anything..
though actual 'shorts' are rare..
commonly there are 'opens' ...and mis-wiring possibly.
Short to ground can happen ...but not that common generally.

and if it's a new conversion ..
how are things wired ?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Miller" <mwmiller6@ATT.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2012 9:02 PM
Subject: temp gauge shenanagins

> Well, my AAZ conversion is running! yeah. thanks to Karmakanix. Runs
> strong too. Only 300,002 things left to do.
>
> But...my temp gauge goes slowing up to the red zone and the light
> blinks. Stopped the first couple of times and the engine doesn't smell
> hot, the oil temp hasn't gone up and the oil pressure is the same and
> the fan doesn't even come on. This happened in 50 degree weather.
>
>
> Can a short in the wiring cause this? Or something else other than
> overheating?
>
> Mike