On Mon, 23 Jan 1995, Matthew Sanner wrote:

> My 84 Vanagn GL has a problem. 
> 
> When starting the VW up, all the idiot lights go on then off, no problem.
> After warming the vanagon up for a bit. I start driving. When i come to the 
> first stop sign (about 1,500 yds), the water warning light starts flashing and 
> the needle shoots off toward the right. I start driving again and the light
> goes out, 
    <SNIP> 

Sounds like an electrical problem,  Check that the coolant level is
reasonable first, but I expect that you've got a short or a break in the
wiring.
If your gas guage is doing funny stuff too, I'd bet it's near the guage
end.
Every time the circuit breaks (dis-connects) the temp needle will fall left
then every time it re-connects (a bump or shake) the LED will flash again
(thinking it's startup) and the needle will go to real temp. until it
breaks again.
Try pulling the connector off of the back of the clock/temp/gas guage,
and looking to see if any of the pins are broken/bent out of position.
other than that, you're probably in for some long wire tracing... Sorry.

Best of luck.

Cheers

<sstones@io.org>
SStones             Toronto,  Ontario.