Club 80-90 Forums

Still getting to know my van - devon Aircooled 2.0l 1983.
Had my pushrod tubes replaced today as they were leaking badly.
Afterwards I noticed that the cable to the thermostat is snapped (don't know if it already was, or the mechanic accidentally did it).
Assuming I have any cooling flaps, if the cable has snapped, will the flaps now be stuck in the open or closed position ?
Either way, will it matter/cause any damage ?
Not sure if the thermostat is working, but I was thinking I might as well replace it when replacing the cable, but it seems they are no longer available.
The wiki link to how to use a beetle/type1 thermostat is broken. Can anyone enlighten me as to the procedure ?
Also, the plates that go between the heat exchangers and the engine are missing. Is this going to cause problems ?

Easy answer first - the flaps fail into the open position. It will take longer to warm the engine up, use more fuel during that period and consequently wear a little more.

No difference once warmed up. Not having all the tinware in place will mean hot / coldspots where there shouldn't be too

As long as the spring has not broken the flaps fail in the open position.
The lever the cable attaches to should be vertical with the flaps open.


With the flaps closed the lever lays forward.

Make sure the flaps are still fitted. If they are not, source some and fit even if the thermostat is not working the flaps direct cooling air through the oil cooler when open.

The bellows type thermostat for the Beetle is modified by unscrewing the threaded end and threading the cable through the threaded hole and refitting.
The bellows thermostats fail open if yours is expanded cold then it has failed, it should be like this cold. Only use the bellows type thermostat the replacement wax type fail closed.

Thanks for that info, that's very handy, so looks like most important is to make sure I still have some flaps.
Can't seem to find a vw bellows type thermostat for sale anywhere, but I can tell from comparing with your photo that my thermostat is failed as it's expanded when cold.

Also, important to note that although it should fail with flaps open, my "rod with flaps on", although still has a good spring, pivots quite stiffly, so can easily be in the closed position. I've manually moved it, but plan on dismantling and cleaning at some point.

Usually a touch of oil on the plastic bearings either side of the rod works wonders. If it hasn't been operating for some time the rod goes rusty where it was polished by the plastic bushes.

Just picking up on this.
I currently don’t have a thermostat on my CU. Has anyone managed to modify the “new type” to fit?