On 15 Jul 96 at 14:38, SyncroHead@aol.com wrote:

> I expect that you'll say - "Ahhh,  that's only coolant temperature, What
> about the oil temperature?"  It is true that presently I am not able to
> monitor oil temperature.  Oil temperature can be much more volitile than
> coolant temperature, but after a sustained period under extreme condiditions
> the coolant temperature will inevitibly rise if oil temperature remains very
> high.  This would have been refelcted on the coolant temperature gage before
> long & it wasn't.
While I agree the w/b cooling system seems adequate so far on my '88 
under normal conditions, I do find it cannot cope with 1st & 2nd gear 
travel for prolonged periods, even when keeping revs up to maintain 
coolant flow. I often stop too cool off after 20-30 minutes of rough 
road travel in these conditions.
I must disagree with your conclusion about the relationship between 
oil & coolant temps, based on experience with my Jetta. I have a 
mechanical oil pressure gauge on my Jetta which also reflects oil 
temps somewhat. I find oil temp will climb slightly faster than 
coolant temp on hills as indicated by a quick drop of about 10psi in 
pressure. This is followed by coolant temp rise. However, the coolant 
temp will drop to normal in about 1 minute of flat driving, while the 
oil pressure will remain low for 5-10 minutes or more. I attribute 
the quick rise in oil temp to the turbo on my Jetta, but since it has 
the same oil-to-coolant exchanger as on the Vanagon, I suspect the 
cool down process of the oil is similar in the Vanagon. So a coolant 
gauge which has returned to 'normal' doesn't necessarily mean the 
engine oil is also 'normal'.

 Shawn
'88 Westy 332k (Kyra)
'85 Jetta TD 350k (Jenni)