[urq] help me?

[Tony Lum]

At 11:44 AM 1/24/2005, Brandon Rogers wrote:
>'83's don't have the water level warning indicators like later cars - hence
>no warning is my bet - when the coolant drained there was no fluid to
>over-heat the sensor....?????
>
>Brandon

I've always thought that this was a stupid "feature".  No coolant level 
switch or temp gauge on a turbo engine.  IMHO, the overheat warning 
indicator means get ready to change your engine.  I'm probably overly 
sensitive since the head cracked in my '80 5000S, so I get nervous anytime 
the gauge reads over half scale.

The funny thing is that its trivial to add these essential safety 
items.  If you look at the coolant overflow bottle, you'll note that there 
is a threaded fitting in the tank that's molded closed.  I used a dremel 
tool to cut the plastic away and installed the level switch from a 4000 
turbo diesel.  The same switch is also used on the type 43 turbo diesels 
('80-'83).  I tied it together with the stock overheat switch on the back 
on the head.  Since I'm also using a 4kq temp gauge, I also connected the 
overheat sensor from the gauge sender on the cylinder head coolant 
outlet.  So I've got dual redundant overheat switches along with the 
coolant level warning switch to alert me to coolant problems.

  Tony