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VanagonEuroVan
Subject:More 83.5 cooling
Date:Tue, 30 Jul 1996 08:04 EDT

Hello,

While the topic of cooling an 83 wb is being discussed I have a question
for all of you wb experts out there. I have an 83.5 that recently had new
head gaskets, water pump, thermostat, coolant..etc and I noticed something
strange while driving recently. When I drive in 4th gear (going around
55mph) I see that the temp gauge goes up to the right of the coolant light.
My camper temp never goes past the light in the middle of the gauge when
I'm driving. I stop for a light and the temp rises so that the gauge goes
past the light about a needles width and then the fan comes on and the temp
goes down a bit. This seems normal, right? This is the strange thing. If I
stop at a light and the temp goes up when I resume driving in third gear
the temp gauge needle goes toward the left of the light (meaning the needle
is still within the circle of the led, like it is running cooler) BUT if I
drive in 4th gear (highway speeds) the gauge only drops alittle from the
right. Shouldn't it be the other way around. If the van is going 55mph at
the same rpm (?) shouldn't it be cooler than going 35mph in third gear?
Does anyone have any suggestions that could shed some light on this?
Thanks.

dave

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