[Vwdiesel] Re: First long trip in 82 diesel - coolant temp?

[ovalwindow]

jon-

sounds like a nice tour!

> noticed that these extended hills in 2nd gear really
> brought the coolant
> temperature up and had me worried - first time the
> temp had gone above half
> since I've owned the van (3 weeks or so) and I
> wasn't really sure what shape
> the cooling system was in.  

my diesel rides above the light just driving it across
town.... <grins>  (no matter *how* many times i bleed
the system.....)  (it's got 65K original miles, my
guess is she's still on the original t-stat...)

> Anyway, I was wondering
> when I should start
> worrying.  Is 3/4 about as high as I should chance
> it?  When should the fan
> kick in?  

i believe the fan is a two stage setup.  anyway, my
fan kicks on about halfway between the light and the
far right, and it gets a fair amount of action as you
can imagine.  most of the diesel vanagon owners i've
talked to run cooler, but my guess is that i probably
still have the stock thermostat in mine.  i think a
lot of folks switch to a cooler one.  (i think 87 was
stock, and 82 or 80 is the other option....)  search
the archives though to make sure!

if you're fan didn't kick in, it's probably in need of
a new switch.  i've talked to several diesel vanagon
owners who have never heard their fans come on, which
seems odd to me, but certainly not w/o reason i guess
if they've got the lower temp. t-stat in.

as a reference point, i drove the same engine in a
rabbit for 75K miles, and the fan got a good workout
in that car (less than half the weight!).  so i think
it's safe to say the vanagon *should* bring the fan
on.
(think i'll cross post this to the diesel lists, you
might want to monitor them as well.)

> I didn't hear my radiator fan at all.  Is
> the light behind the
> coolant temp gauge for coolant level or coolant
> temperature?  

the latter.

> Maybe I should
> have the cooling system 'pressure tested' for piece
> of mind?

no, i think you're in good shape.

have fun!  ~j.


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