To: Vanagon Digest

Could use some help on this one.

Been original owner of an '82 diesel vanagon, now at 179K miles.  Except
under a few very rare (and understandable) circumstances, it has never =
run
warmer than the temp needle at the left hand edge of the LED in the temp.
gauge.  Coupla weeks ago, wife noticed that at freeway speeds, it ran
warmer, at the right hand edge of the led, but cooled down if she slowed
down to say 50-55.

So - I ordered a new thermostat from VW, and had it installed with fresh
phosphate free antifreeze.  On the way home I noticed that the engine =
temp
now runs steady state at the right hand edge of the LED all the time.

Now - although this probably isn't "overheat" it is warmer than it has =
run
for the last 15 years.

I don't think that the electric radiator fan is an issue here, I don't
think the current temp is hot enough to trigger the fan, and the last =
time,
about a year ago stuck on a hot day in a traffic jam, I did hear it come
on, guess I could short the switch to verify, but the engine never ran =
hot
enough under nominal conditions (left hand edge of the LED) before to =
need
the fan.

Coolant was last changed 2 years ago, and looking at the coolant tanks,
showed no signs of rust in the cooling system.

Thanks
Harvey