>You are not alone, I had every one of these problems and it didn't go away
>for 3 years while vw tried to figure it out.
>
>I had the same problem with my 84 and it magically went away after a visit
>to the machanic.  As to what he did I am not sure, probably broomsticked
the
>catalytic :-).  To my knowledge it was a matter of getting the engine tuned
>correctly, running it without an exhaust pipe can damage the tuning
>drastically(it does make the engine sound bigger though).
>
>Now regading that red blinkin light on the temp guage that makes your heart
>stop when you see it.  That too is something that I ran into, over and over
>and over and over.  It went away after I found the air leak in the coolent
>system, one of the hose clamps was slightly loose so that when the fore and
>aft pipes heated with coolent it expanded and sealled and when the pipes
>cooled it opened enough to let air bubbles into the coolent system.  More
>air Bubbles than the system can purge, it took 10 stops to the the VW shop
>to find it.
>
>Now to the third item with the vanagon not starting.
>It was doing the same thing with me but only in condensing cold fog, sounds
>electrical.  I was able to start it several times by taking the intake boot
>of the air regulator then that didn't work.  The only thing that actually
>fixed it was to take a hair dryer to the main computer for a few minutes.
>
>
>Date:    Sat, 11 Dec 1999 18:35:44 EST
>From:    Harold Jaynes <HJaynes1@AOL.COM>
>Subject: Temperature Sensor Light/Difficulty Starting
>
>I occasionally have two different problems on my 84 Vanagon. First,
>sometimes
>the temperature sensor light starts to blink upon starting occasionally and
>will not stop blinking for a mile or two.  Sometimes it just starts to
blink
>while warm without warning, although the engine does not seem to be running
>hot.  The coolant is always around the line in the reservoir.
>
>Second, it seems like about one every dozen times or so, the car just does
>not start period. I can push start it, it starts just fine.  And I can turn
>the engine off and it starts right back up. This is in conjunction with the
>problem I have that it runs great at cruising speed, but runs like a dog
>while idling or getting to cruising speed. Any ideas??
>
>I just also want to say...I REALLY like this list.  I appreciate reading
>insights from the different members. I've had three Vanagons. Bought this
on
>the spot in SLC Utah because it had one of those huuuuuge cool sunroofs
that
>I had looked for years for.
>
>Harold Jaynes
>

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