Hi Volks,

Last winter and so far this winter, my van has tended to idle between
2200 and 2800 RPMs until the engine warms up.

Scenario: Start the van in the morning; it cranks just fine.  Idles
normally for a few seconds to a minute, then steadily
climbs to the high idle range.  Upon warming enough for the temperature
gauge to move, it settles down to a normal idle.

Now, I observe this almost every morning and evening, when the van is
started cold.  But, it has been plugged in; that is, the "coolant heater"
(an oxymoron, eh?) and the oil pan heater have been operating.

The postings lately regarding the coolant temp sensor have me wondering
if this artificial warming of the coolant that I do is confusing some
part of the system, and convincing it to run at high idle until the
engine et al are happily at operating temperature.  When the coolant temp
sensor does its job, to whom does it convey the information it gathers?

A few un-preheated starts seem to NOT produce this high idle effect.
When the mechanic had it last, he could not reproduce this symptom, and
he didn't plug it in.  I'll explore starting it truly cold this weekend to
see if this hypothesis holds.  Meanwhile, please share any ideas on
this with me and the list.  Do any other high latitude Vanagoneers
observe this?

Cheers,

Chris Wyatt
'87 Syncro GL
Fairbanks, Alaska