That will work for a while . . . 

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Richard Smith
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2014 10:46 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: My Vanagon's blinking coolant light problem vs other peoples'---it all blends together

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<mailto:olrivrrat@comcast.net>) 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