Club 80-90 Forums

The waterpump is fine. The problem is that at low rpm too much coolant can flow through the bypass (which normally allows a small amount of coolant to circulate round the engine before the thermostat opens, for a more controlled warm-up) but your engine is still at risk imho.
This kind of problem will fool the thermostat and the efi computer (aka EMS or ECU) as has already been noted and it won't be able to work out what's going on. Fault codes, oil dilution and bore washing (from running too rich) will shorten the engine's life and at the very least poor mpg will result.
The heater should always be able to push out truly hot air within minutes of startup from cold. Just like an oem engine.

PS the temp gauge is only a guide and doesnt mean jack on a bodged engine swap. The heater going cold is the symptom you need to treat.

Hi there,
You say that your a novice, how prepared are you too get some spanners out and get stuck in?
I can't make out too much from your pics with regards to your cooling system, has you coolent manifold been reverced? If I were I would be buying the kit from rjes and starting again, you will get everything you need including the header tank bracket for around £120. while the system is drained pop out the stat and put in pot of water on the hob and heat the water as it begins to boil the stat should open. Its worth confirming it's working correctly while it's drainned down, a replacement stat is about £15.
As for the actual water temp on my coolant manifold I have 3senders on it one for the ecu,one (the vw sender) for the dash gauge. And one for a separate vdo water temp gauge.
My engine is up to temp, stat opens at 78c with in 2 miles or 5 mins of driving and stays just over 80c all the time while driving, at a stand still it creaps up until the fan comes on and drops back down to 80c ish, the heater it piping hot all the time and much more controllable temp wise than it was when the van was a jx.
I should add the the front to back coolant pipes and the rad have been replaced on our van and this can only help with the cooling.
If your manifold has not been reverced I have onevthat you could have on an exchange basis so you don't have remove yours and send it off while it's being worked on.

Neil

Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it.

Happy to get stuck in. I managed with most things on my standard 14" 2.1, clutch, water pumps, starter motors, timing, bleeding it, change of t stat, CV joints etc. Having a Bentley makes a massive difference and avoids me looking like a dumbass on here

Going to have a good read on the subaru vw conversion forum, I need to learn quick and understand differences for modification. Cooling and wiring are areas I've never really had issues with before on vans.

As you are finding out, Scooby swap are ALL about the cooling and wiring!

Just a thought: is the coolant system actually full? If there is an air pocket somewhere it could explain the low rpm/no heat symptom as well as the high reading on the gauge (even though this could be erroneous)

Good point, i've only started noticing it recently and I have owned for 4-5 months now as my daily vehicle. I will give it a bleed tomorrow, just to be on the safe side. thanks

Just seen this!!

coolant manifold is reversed.

HTH mike!

Cool. I've been reading the conversion forum and RJES this evening, slowly picking it up.

Thanks Hutch, I plan to go through the Belgians folder to capture everything done, wish me luck