Richard, that would be a great solution but it doesn't work for me. My
Vanagon is a diesel, and I have to wait 5 to 15 seconds for the glow plug
light to go out before I started anyway. Doesn't seem to help. It seems
like the best thing to do for me is wait until the engine is completely
warmed up and then restart. That way, I know the light is going to stay off
and not blink.

Jim

On Monday, December 15, 2014, Richard Smith <richard_smith@gnwc.ca> wrote:

> Based on the conversations here over the past few days, I did some
> experiments with my - occasional -  “persistent engine blinking light”
> problem (even with all other factors, coolant level etc, accounted for). I
> have an ’85 AT WBX with 180k km (~120k miles).
>
> I can report that in my case, the blinking light problem was “solved” 100%
> of the time by turning the key to the “on” position and just waiting a few
> seconds before starting the engine. If I do this, the engine light blinks a
> few times, and goes out.
>
> If I “rush it,” and just turn the key to start, the blinking light
> persists for a long time, sometimes until I next come to a stop.
>
> …r
> --
> Richard Smith
>
>
> On December 12, 2014 at 6:32:26 PM, OlRivrRat (olrivrrat@comcast.net
> <javascript:;><mailto:olrivrrat@comcast.net <javascript:;>>) wrote:
>
> Good to know DB ~ Thanks ~
>
>
> On 12 Dec , 2014, at 7:26 PM, David Beierl wrote:
>
> > At 09:04 PM 12/12/2014, OlRivrRat wrote:
> >> I have had 2 encounters recently with Vanagons that
> >> displayed the BlinkingCoolantLight@StartUp & Quite ByAccident on
> >
> > This is a common experience when the timing cap inside the gauge is
> > leaking but not quite enough to fail hard and just blink all the
> > time. Both the key on, wait, key off part and the sensitivity to
> > temperature and especially to humidity. Given the symptoms it's not
> > likely to be anything else. Van Cafe has the gauges for
> > tach-equipped vans and in a pinch I can fix them if you can't, or
> > can't get it done nearby.
> >
> > Yours,
> > David
>