Winter Thermostat Adjustment

[vamram]

First of, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah & of course Happy Fesitvus for All!

In cold winter weather - not Florida, Hawaii or Southern Cal - should the thermostat bracket be lowered to keep the flaps from opening fully? I'm talking about places where its regularly below 30* for weeks at a time.

Thanks!

Victor
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[Q-Dog]

No.
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[vamram]

Why did VW build play into the bracket adjustment, so that you can adjust for less opening?
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[gt1953]

I would adjust it lower so the flaps do not open fully in extreme cold weather. Now with that being said if you do that monitor the engine temp with your gauges. If you are getting plenty of heat and defrost leave it alone.
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[TX-73]

My assumption/guess has been that any of the slotted holes allow for fine tune adjustment to make up for slight assembly variance of shroud, linkage, etc. I didn't know if there was any winter/summer adjustment of the thermostat.
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[Tim Donahoe]

Don't readjust it. The thermostat adjusts itself. It will open by degrees, according to the heat generated by the engine.

Merry Christmas, Victor!

Tim
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[williamM]

the electric choke is a different story- it can be "unwound" a bit to compensate for over long application-- (while we're on the subject of cold adjustments)
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[Tim Donahoe]

P. S. It's adjustable to compensate for differences in rod length, due to bending, and/or the fact that some people screw the thermostat on the rod, more than others. Also, the curled "C" bracket may be bent a little, or the entire shroud--including the flaps--may be sitting a little differently with each installation.

Tim
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[airschooled]

I would not want the directional fluctuation involved with partially-opened flaps for any duration of my harder drives. The cylinders need a certain percentage of cooling air, and the heads need their share. Partially open flaps give more cooling to the heads and less to the cylinders; I'm not sure the thermal expansion characteristics of the metals would appreciate the extended diversion.

I have found, on a T1 bus, that my CHT gauge does not indicate ANY sort of ambient temperature preference towards color or warmer weather. Headwinds YES! And air content (humidity/O2 density) seems to have a much larger effect on CHT readings than air temperature alone. Death Valley this summer saw a peak of 412* at 90* ambient, and the rain storm last week saw 396 at 43* ambient.

These engines do not care.
Robbie
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[goober]

It depends on your driving habits. If you do a lot of prolonged highway driving, probably not. If you do a lot of low-speed city driving, adjusting it might not hurt.

Do you have a stock air-cleaner and oil-filler? If so, how much oily schmutz build-up is there in the tube going to the air-cleaner and under the oil cap? If you have significant build-up, your engine is running too cold and to warm it up a little more might help.

Without some way of determining cylinder head temp it's hard to know exactly where your engine is at. I adjust my flaps manually based upon my desired cylinder head temp. I like to ideally run between 270 deg F on the low side and 340 deg F on the high side. When it's really cold at low speeds you can leave the flaps closed and it will still struggle to come up to operating temp. Add to that with a dog-house shroud, your oil is being forcibly cooled as it struggles to come up to temp. And how much of the original stock cooling setup is still intact?

And the flaps don't seal/fit perfectly either. Some air does get by closed flaps. But without knowing your head temp it's guess work on your part. In the summer you can't have too much cooling but in the winter you can. The cooling effect on the head is immediate with the head having very little thermal mass to sustain heat build-up.

There are many issues associated with having too cold of an engine just like there are with running too hot of an engine. Being air-cooled our engines are subject to more sudden and greater extremes than water-cooled engines. We have to appreciate that.

[Q-Dog]

[vamram]

[gt1953]

Well with low speed driving me personally would consider it as I have a means of monitoring oil temp. AS you think about that adjustment I doubt it would make any difference. If you have a chance get it out on the highway for a nice 20 mile run, turn around go back. That may clear out the muck in the pipe from low speed running. Don't lug the engine, hold it in gear longer too, helps with cabin heat.
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Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[Clara]

[wcfvw69]

I agree with the others in NOT changing the adjustment. Clara mentioned it and I've read it elsewhere in that in some VERY cold temps, the thermostat never opens which is a good thing. The engine is trying to reach a good working temperature which will burn off condensation inside it.

Even with the thermostat flaps closed inside the shroud, there is still some cooling air getting through. VW spent MILLIONS designing the system for all different kinds of climates.
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[vamram]

gt1953 - I have the VDO oil pressure & temp gauges. I have the sensor in place of the FRONT oil relief plug. It's been recommended to me to move it to the pressure switch w/a t-fitting for it and the VDO pressure sender.

Btw - thanks all for your input. I've decided to leave it as-is and let the TStat work as it will. I have a completely stock system for a '72 - oil bath, working oil bath tstat vacuum valve and pre-heat flap, stove-pipe & pre-heat hose, evap system, etc. Running a Solex 34-4 w/a working dashpot, and a matching German Bosch DVDA.

Clara, my driving habits are similar to yours - many small local trips. Sometimes I'll throw an extra 10-20 miles on when on a supermarket run (1 mile from home) just so that the engine can warm up nicely. Here's a pic of the engine when I had just freshly painted the tins, so it's nice and clean. I've put on about 20k on the car since this picture, and have replaced the Bocar carb w/the Solex 34-4. [EDIT] I also didn't have the pre-heat oil bath t-stat hooked up yet in this pic.

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Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
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Save the Supers!!

[Randy in Maine]

You do not want the oil temp sender moved to the oil pressure location using a T.

Precious little oil moves through that location.

[vamram]

The folks at Wolfgang international suggested doing so, based on their own testing. I don't want to turn this into a dreaded oil thread, but if enough goes by the pressure switch to establish pressure, how is that not enough for establishing the temps? They also said that the front pressure relief plug is not ideal because the oil cooler is located above that so more cooling air is available at that spot. I'm not a mechanic so I just weigh the cumulative advice here, from pros and in books, and try to make the best decision.
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[juicedog070]

Hi, I've been having these thermostat questions as well. This all seems like good info, but I still haven't heard how many turns it takes to properly thread the thermostat on the flap post. Screw it all the way on there till you run out of threads, or just or stop as soon as you catch some threads, or somewhere inbetween?

It seems to me that the flaps are completely open when the thermostat is not hooked up. Then, when you thread the thermostat on the post, you have to pull it down (closing the flaps) to mount it to the bottom of the thermostat bracket. Then when it heats up, it expands allowing the flaps to open (how much, IDK?). Will the thermostat adjust to let the flaps completely open no matter how far it is threaded on the post? Is there any way to judge it?

Thanks everybody!

[wcfvw69]