Club 80-90 Forums

You can try running without a thermostat at all.

Sometimes this can work, sometimes it's a bodge mod to solve overheating which doesn't work because the thermostat is needed to allow the coolant to flow properly. I don't know which camp T25's fall into.

Drilling holes in a thermostat is another bodge with an uncertain outcome.

Order one from BW.

In the meantime so what the temp gauge does without one, and when you get up to temperature (which will take longer and has a small fuel and engine wear cost) see if you can bleed the system again. I doubt it will work, but it's a worth a go.

Here’s my suggestion for what it’s worth (I’m a T25 newbie.) Check your fuse board and if it’s attached with three screws and has got old-type fuses, take out the screws and look up under the dash for a relay. If it’s got the number 43 on it, it’s more than likely toast. replace it with this one. https://www.vwheritage.com/191919376a-c ... y-vw-spare" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My temp gauge was reading high and when I replaced the relay it read normal. Can’t explain the electrics of it but I read that 43 relays are pretty much guaranteed to be blown and need to be replaced with a 42.
Worked for me...

I never though I'd see another engine with this bodge

Running this engine with two thermostats or with stats taken out ( ) is risking killing the engine, I don't care what the gauge says it's the temperature in the engine that matters, you essentially have two separate sides with coolant flowing, one cold be flowing well the other not, the gauge won't tell you that because it sits in one place only.

Any chance of a higher resolution photo of the engine bay or zoom in a bit? I can't actually see where the coolant hoses are going. A few more photos would help us see what's going on.

It's quite clear in the photo what's been done. Fortunately it's pretty straightforward to convert the engine to match the van. Put a late 1.9 water pump on (no oil cooler spigot), big metal coolant pipe (WP to 'stat), hose from spigot on said pipe near WP to header tank (the one with branch to choke heater), LHS head to bleed rail hose (looks like a long liquorice pipe), and fit the small spigot on RHS head with hose to bleed rail. It may be that the inlet manifold coolant flow has been bypassed, so that will need reinstating (with minor mod for non-standard Weber carb). That should sort it.

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Here’s a higher res picture
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GigUCPVr9qartW3B7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just seen your reply Andy, I’ll do some research tomorrow.

From my very brief experience with my van, I'd also add that of you're working on the coooing system at all, it's worth really giving it a good flush through with water, with the front of the van high and then the back high. I had a van which had had new 'red' coolant added, and even though it was probably flushed a bit when it was changed, it took loads and loads of flushing to get all the brown gunge that forms when the new 'red' coolant meets the 'old' blue/ethylene glycol coolant.
It came out of new places like the thermostat housing, even when the main runs had been showing clean water for ages!

I can't think that the stuff that came out can have been doing the coolant circuit any good, so it's a thing worth doing on any van you haven't been in total control of the coolant changes in my view.

GL

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