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Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:44 am

1987 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg edition all factory stock 2.1L automatic.

1. Temp gauge on dash does not move with red light flashing.
2. Blowing steam out the pipe.
3. Not sure rad fan is running.
4. Hasn't run in 5 years but starts and runs and drives fine. Only short trips.

My guess is the PO blew a head gasket when the rad fan stopped working. So I need to find the sender for the dash gauge and test the rad fan/sensor.

So where is the dash gauge sender located, where is the fan sensor located and does this have the same fan setup the same as the MK2 cars?

Thanks

Sun Oct 23, 2016 7:03 am

#1 is caused by low coolant in the resivoir. If the coolant is low and there's a big air bubble the thermostat might not open and the radiator fan might not come on. If you ran it long enough to try to get the fan to come on you likely did some damage. Fill and bleed the coolant system and then report back.

Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:09 am

The red LED on the temp gauge will flash if the coolant is low or if it's running hot. Since the gauge did not go up it's likely due to low coolant (sender in the tank in the engine bay).

The rad fan is switched on by a switch in the radiator (lower right side when looking at the front of the van).

Blowing steam out the exhaust is a bad sign.

If the MK2 cars required a ridiculous amount of bleeding then they're similar. :D Not sure about the bits.

Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:53 pm

I can answer dash temp gauge sensor and fan sensor locations for you.
The dash gauge sensor is located on the very bottom of the thermostat housing.
While you didn't ask it, the dash coolant warning light is also actuated by too little coolant. That sensor is located in the top of the pressurized coolant bottle against the back wall of the engine compartment on the driver's side.
The fan sensor is located on the lower left (driver's side) front of the radiator. You should be able to see the wires through the slats in the grille.
Good luck!
James

Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:53 pm

"Blowing steam out the pipe".

What pipe?

Dave

Mon Oct 24, 2016 6:04 am

/queue broken record new owner introduction
just bought your westy you need to focus on safety first.. and well tires are safety.. make sure your westy has a few items updated. each of these are searchable topics here in the vanagon forum
#1 REPLACE your fuel lines with properly rated fuel injection hose..
#2 while replacing fuel lines remove and update the plastic firewall hose barb to metal or eliminated altogether.
#3 Replace your alternator harness.
#4 make sure to use a quality MANN/MAHLE oil filter to maintain proper working pressures.
#5 replace the plastic coolant tower (2.1) or H-pipe (1.9) in the cooling system that fails abruptly with a massive cloud of coolant and steam.
#6 service brakes and flush brake fluid.
#7 make sure you have fairly new and properly rated & inflated tires.. (go rim shopping if that then suits your sensibilities)

Mon Oct 24, 2016 9:06 am

danfromsyr wrote: /queue broken record new owner introduction
just bought your westy you need to focus on safety first.. and well tires are safety.. make sure your westy has a few items updated. each of these are searchable topics here in the vanagon forum
#1 REPLACE your fuel lines with properly rated fuel injection hose..
#2 while replacing fuel lines remove and update the plastic firewall hose barb to metal or eliminated altogether.
#3 Replace your alternator harness.
#4 make sure to use a quality MANN/MAHLE oil filter to maintain proper working pressures.
#5 replace the plastic coolant tower (2.1) or H-pipe (1.9) in the cooling system that fails abruptly with a massive cloud of coolant and steam.
#6 service brakes and flush brake fluid.
#7 make sure you have fairly new and properly rated & inflated tires.. (go rim shopping if that then suits your sensibilities)

the first thing to do is figure out how to stop the steam blowing out a pipe. everything else can wait til that is done. if bad head gasket as suggested, then fix the head gasket.

good luck

Mon Oct 24, 2016 2:54 pm

OK awesome. I'm going to do some checks tomorrow.

Compression
If plugs have been cleaned by water with compression

I will get to the rest shortly. All the fuel lines look original and the clamps have rusted off.

Here's a pic of the engine and you can see the fuel line clamps and I think the blue sender in the back is the dash gauge.

Mon Oct 24, 2016 3:41 pm

djkeev wrote: "Blowing steam out the pipe".

What pipe?

Dave

Tail pipe.

Mon Oct 24, 2016 3:46 pm

danfromsyr wrote: /queue broken record new owner introduction
just bought your westy you need to focus on safety first.. and well tires are safety.. make sure your westy has a few items updated. each of these are searchable topics here in the vanagon forum
#1 REPLACE your fuel lines with properly rated fuel injection hose..
#2 while replacing fuel lines remove and update the plastic firewall hose barb to metal or eliminated altogether.
#3 Replace your alternator harness.
#4 make sure to use a quality MANN/MAHLE oil filter to maintain proper working pressures.
#5 replace the plastic coolant tower (2.1) or H-pipe (1.9) in the cooling system that fails abruptly with a massive cloud of coolant and steam.
#6 service brakes and flush brake fluid.
#7 make sure you have fairly new and properly rated & inflated tires.. (go rim shopping if that then suits your sensibilities)

for #6 new hoses too

agree re pipe vapor

Mon Oct 24, 2016 11:26 pm

Quote: I think the blue sender in the back is the dash gauge.
If we are looking at the same thing in your photo, that is the temp2 sensor (part of the fuel injection system). The dash gauge temp sensor is a round button that a female terminal can slide onto located on the very bottom of the thermostat housing.
This is a case where the Vanagon Bentley manual would come in handy... :wink:
People here have provided links to the digifant (fuel injection system) training manual which is a great trouble shooting resource.
James

Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:39 pm

Thank you for all your replies. I have a few more questions. I ran the motor today for 40 mins after checking compression.

1-108 psi warm and dry
2-108 psi warm and dry
3-120 psi warm and dry
4-120 psi warm and dry

It steamed for about 25 mins and then cleared up. It finally registered a temp on the dash gauge of straight up and the rad fan . So I believe the failure while driving the other night was the result of water in the fuel/bad fuel or air in the coolant lines. I was wondering if water in the tank could have been creating the steam?? I think the fuel had sat for 5 years. With that said the engine has a slightly higher then normal idle while I think the idle components are working and I will try to lower the idle after checking the o ring under the idle screw.

As for the compression I'm hoping the cylinder 1&2 number were due to the valves being open while sitting for 5 years. I hope the valves clear up and the compression increases.

I will run the motor again after it has cooled down to see if it steams again.

Tue Oct 25, 2016 2:38 pm

Also does anyone know what the white with green striped wire is for? The one hanging over the spark plug wire,