[Vwdiesel] 81 rabbit truck cooling ???

[Roger Brown]

Leslie Ahern wrote:
>
> All this talk about cooling and the needle position has me thinking...
> I have had my 1981 diesel rabbit truck for about a year and I haven't
> changed the coolant... probably should this spring...  Anyhow the truck runs
> just to the right of the middle of my gauge (1 o'clock).  It does creep up
> when I am in stop and go traffic in the summer.  The needle gets to about
> two white lines away from the hot red zone.  It really scares me!!  Is this
> normal for this year diesel????  I don't think I have ever noticed the fan
> coming on...  I've tested the fan with a lead to the battery and it works.
> The fan fuse under the dash if fine.  I haven't been able to test the temp.
> switch in the radiator yet... not really sure how to do this...???
> Should I just replace the thermostat, therm switch when I change the coolant
> to be sure the parts are working???  Should I do the radiator while I'm at
> it???

Temp gauges sounds a bit high (at least higher than my '81 and '82 read).  However, the readings can vary with senders (you may
have the glow plug and gauge senders swapped).

You can wire up an indicator light to the fan motor to see when its running:
	http://4crawler.cruiserpages.com/Diesel/CheapTricks/RadiatorFan.shtml

--
    Roger