>Can anyone suggest a troubleshooting / common failure area for the
>temperature gauge? I'm experiencing random failures where the needle just
>drops all the way down. The warning LED appears to continue to work when I
>start the van. Would this most likely be the sending unit?

It was on my Syncro.  The wire attached to the temp sender for the gauge
(on the forward side, down low, of the thermostat housing on my van)
gradually worked loose from its connector leading to intermittent
readings and finally nothing.  Installing a new crimp on connector to the
wire and cleaning where the connector attaches to the sender solved this
problem completely.

Check this out as a first step.

Tony

Anthony L. Mourkas
Hampden, Maine, USA
1984 Vanagon Westfalia
1987 Vanagon GL Syncro
1991 Jetta Eco Diesel