Thank you, I will keep your helpful  'offer' in mind, David...

 As I recall, you turn the key to run and that blinky light (coolant level
warning in the center of the temp gauge, 84 chassis, who know what dash pod
or sender... started blinking....stayed blinking....all day.   Eventually I
will make the time to try again to trace down the problem.

 I lose patience and get quite frustrated after a few times digging around
under the dash pod, messing with brittle tabs of those switches and wires
and foils.   I am pretty proud of myself every time I take the dash apart
when I don't make things worse, and I can still use my van after I am
done...Not fixing the problem....well, there IS that, too....but not making
it worse...that is something, eh?

   The coolant level warning *has* moved up on my "to do" list, but
certainly not to the top, yet...
cheers..

On Mon, Sep 7, 2015 at 7:49 AM, David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net> wrote:

> At 11:51 AM 9/6/2015, Don Hanson wrote:
>
>>   So I monitor my gauges, though I may make the  time, after yesterday's
>> scary coolant "incident", to give another try at making the Coolant Level
>> blinky light on my dash function..
>>
>
> The low-coolant system has three components: the overheat warning blinker
> in the temp gauge, a coolant level controller 191 919 376 or 191 919 376A,
> and a pair of stainless steel pins swimming in the coolant pressure
> bottle.  If you have an '85 or older you may have controller 251 919 376
> which is taller and should be replaced with one of the newer ones.
>
> I can say with assurance that together we can get your low coolant warning
> system working correctly.  First thing to do is pull the tape off it, turn
> the key on (engine off) and describe in detail what the light does in the
> first fifteen seconds.
>
> Yours,
> David
>