At 11:49 PM 6/7/2015, Jeff Palmer wrote:
>Haha you are clearly smarter than me and 
>unfortunately smarter than my mechanic too :)

Unfortunately it's possible.

>The reason I got the new VR last year was 
>because at approximately the same time my gas 
>gauge would only go to about 95% full even when 
>the tank was full, and the temp gauge began to 
>normally read just a smidgen below normal (generally ran at the LED level).

That's a reasonable indication, but a couple 
minutes with a voltmeter will nail it and tell 
you if it's bad regulator, baad panel supply, bad 
panel ground -- no, sorry; panel ground affects 
the blinker but not either of the gauges proper.

>The LED light was always finicky ever since I 
>bought the van 20 years ago.  When it was humid, 
>it would flash for extended periods.  Sometimes 
>if I let it flash for five seconds before 
>starting it would stop flashing.  When dry it was fine.

Yes, the internal capacitor is leaky and 
eventually it will never stop flashing; because 
it always flashes at power-on.  It's supposed to 
continue for two or three seconds any time it starts.

>Then last fall it kept flashing and wouldn’t 
>stop.  Not long after the temp needle began to peg immediately at startup.

Too far away now to know what "immediately at 
startup" means.  As I said, a literally 
second-by-second description is needed to 
distinguish between gauge behavior and controller 
behavior.  The light and the gauge are completely 
independent of each other.  One heats up more 
when more current flows through it, and the other 
monitors the voltage at the sender terminal and 
starts flashing when the voltage falls below a 
certain point.  The light will start to flash any 
time the sender line is looking at 35 ohms or 
less to ground.  35 ohms is also the value that 
should put the gauge right on the edge of overheat.

I'm guessing you have a 1.9l van and that your 
level controller is tall, not cubical, is that correct?

Once again, describe minutely the behavior of 
blinker and gauge starting when you turn the key on from cold.

d