I have the same problem. The gauge is bad. Quick fix, back tape over the light.  Real fix: If you have a tach, get a new gauge from Van Café.  If you don't have the tach, you'll need to replace the leaky capacitor in the gauge.  I can dig out the instructions from David Beierl if you go this route.

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Jim Felder
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2014 9:36 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: My Vanagon's blinking coolant light problem vs other peoples'---it all blends together

I have now driven Vanagons for so long that I can no longer separate the problems I have had in past years from problems I read about on the list ; )

I am having a problem now where on a warm day, I have to shut down my engine after starting and restart to get the blinking light to go off. This gets worse as it gets colder to the point that in the 30Fs, I might have to wait a minute or two and restart as many as three times. It always goes off, though.

I have had problems before similar to this, but to my recollection not exactly line this. Compounding that is the fact that coolant light blinking is such a common problem that  a problem I had 12 or 15 years ago sounds suspiciously like what I was reading about a week or two ago. I don't remember if my previous blinking light problem had anything to do with cold weather but this one seems to.

In any event, it's a common problem.

My sensor is clean, my connections are good, my coolant is properly mixed and fresh and I have pressed the back of the temp gauge while the car is running and no change. My grounds are good and in fact I have an extra ground or two.

Any ideas? Come on, help me fix it QUICK while it is the only thing wrong with the car!

Jim