Hey Gary,

I had the same problem with my 85 Westy, I keep putting in new thermostats from local flaps thinking they were bad. Finally I sprung for a Dealing thermostat and presto perfect engine temp. all the time. The dealer thermostat had no other manufacture marks on it other than VW ??

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From:  Gary Thaxter [SMTP:gthaxter@DGTDESIGN.COM]
Sent:  Sunday, November 22, 1998 3:34 PM
To:  vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Subject:  86 syncro running cool

I changed my thermostat yesterday in hopes of getting some heat out of my
van for the winter.  It takes for ever for the needle to come up out of the
"white" and heater performance is poor even after long drives.  Some heat
is produced when the van is not moving and the heater fan off but only
lasts about 30 seconds when the fan is turned back on.

The new thermostat (winter one) didn't seem to help.  If anything, it is
worse.  The needle does not rise above 1/3 at the very most.  After a
couple of minute warm up, and a twenty minute drive, it is just out of the
white.

What kind of things affect engine running temp?  What things would make it
run cool (maybe running too rich)?  I am going to start checking stuff
(temp sensor O2 sensor etc.) but I was hoping someone may have had the same
problem recently.

My 85 (digijet) pumps out the heat like a furnace, I am used to working on
it.  The 86 (digifant) is still new to me, but seems to be a little less
reliable and harder to diagnose. . . progress I guess.

Thanks ahead,
Gary Thaxter
74 transporter panel
78 westy
85 kombi
86 syncroGL