on a diesel vanagon ..
the hot coolant is coming out of the side of the head...that's where
you'd shoot with an IR temp gun, not at the t-stat, which is low on the
engine on the right side,  where cooled coolant returns from the radiator.

So far I have never found it neccessaryto do 'in flight' temp testing as
you describe.
Could be a little hazardous as you suggest.

On 8/27/2013 9:02 AM, Stuart MacMillan wrote:
> Those temps don't make sense to me.  112f?  a hot tub is hotter than that!
> ;-)
>
> Get yourself one of these and figure out what's really going on:
> http://www.harborfreight.com/infrared-thermometer-with-laser-targeting-non-c
> ontact-69465.html
>
> Best to aim at a hose near the T-stat or put a piece of black tape on the
> housing.
>
> I don't necessarily recommend this, but you could leave the hatch off and
> have someone kneeling on the back seat take these measurements at speed.  Be
> sure your helper is someone with enough sense to stay well away from the
> engine and not lean over it!  The gun works well at a distance.  If you
> can't see the T-stat from the seat, then cut a piece of plywood wider than
> the hatch but shorter front to back so you leave a gap to see the target.
> Helper can lean on this.  BTDT.
>
> Stuart
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> ralph meyermann
> Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 7:48 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Cooling issues?
>
> Hi all, just finished a trip with the New powerplant and on the way up I was
> running between 190-200f little head wind and fairly cool, on the way back
> 210-220f with a 20-30 mph head wind. I was noticing that with the
> accelerator in the same position running 60 mph it was about 112f and 65 mph
> 119f? Could the water pump be flowing too quickly to efficiently cool?
> I am planning on a new aluminum radiator, a lower temp fan switch and a
> higher cfm fan? Any advice is appreciated as always, thanks! Still 19.7 mpg
> with big head wind and pulling small 15' aluminum bass boat.
> Velma 82 1.9L AAZ  td westy
>