For what it's worth, the heat is only blasted for about five seconds and the light goes off. 

Yes, it's disconcerting. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 11, 2014, at 3:26 PM, David Bjorkman <ddbjorkman@VERIZON.NET> wrote:
> 
> You should probably look into the operation of your light and your cooling system.  That is not how VW meant it to work.  Mayhaps that is what it does with a Subaru engine, but that's not how it's supposed to work.
> 
> 
> On 11/11/14, Michael wrote:
> 
> One thing I've found on my 88 with a Subaru 2.2 is that the light will go on, flash, and then usually go off and stay off when I turn the heat on full blast.
> 
> Not sure what that means exactly...
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Nov 11, 2014, at 12:44 PM, David Bjorkman <ddbjorkman@VERIZON.NET> wrote:
>> 
>> Normal operation for the light. That way you know it's working. Only worry if it starts flashing while driving, which means shut down the engine NOW. or if it won't go out after a few seconds when starting.
>> Isn't it nice when you find out that something isn't wrong.
>> 
>> Dave B.
>> 
>> 
>> On 11/11/14, David M wrote:
>> 
>> My 1987 Vanagon has been off the road for over a year since it failed the emissions test here in Arizona.
>> I had been starting the engine every couple of weeks until the gas went bad and the battery died.
>> I just bought a new battery (cannot believe how much they cost now!) and put in some new gas and fired up the engine.
>> The problem I have now is that the water temp warning light flashes just a few seconds after starting the engine. Does anyone know what the cause might be? Seems like it's way too soon for the coolant to have even warmed up. The coolant level seems ok. I have had to disconnect and connect the battery a number of times and wonder if I could have blown something.
>> Any advice appreciated.
>> 
>> 
>> David (1987 Wolfsburg)