[snip...]
>>The only
>>alert I had of trouble was the blinking of the 'temperature indicator"
>>(idiot light) on the instrument panel. The temperature gauge read only
>>slightly above normal. The engine was destroyed within 1-2 minutes of the
>>onset of the blinking light.

[snip again...]

>The engine damage was due to running out of coolant, I assume, when the
>hose came off the heater core and leaked it all out, and the temp gauge
>didn't show anything serious?

[final snip...]

>... In this case, the only leg you might
>have to stand on, is the strange circumstance of the temperature gauge
>not indicating severe overheating. I wonder why it didn't? If a temperature
>gauge doesn't indicate this, then what is it for, at all???

[exiting from lurk mode]  Unfortuately, I have some (non-VW, but on-point)
experience with this, as it applies to a "catastrophic loss of coolant"
(split lower radiator hose) at highway speeds.  It would seem that, once the
coolant is missing from the cooling system, the only thing that the
temperature sensor has to work with is the air that replaced the coolant as
a result of the loss.   This resulted in the temperature gauge reading just
a little of the right of center (normal to warm) while the engine was busy
burning off any paint and/or oil that may have adhered to its exterior.  If
I hadn't had the windows open at the time, I may not have noticed the odor,
and stopped to see what the problem was, and would have continued to burn
down the engine to a seize.

I don't know whether or not the temperature sender problem is peculiar to
Chrysler products (the non-VW part), but considering the physics of the
problem, I sorta doubt it.

Mark Pinkstone
Newly-acquired 85' Westy Weekender (Gisela)