Club 80-90 Forums

Hello all, firstly I will apologise for not doing the proper introductions - I will do these later today but I have an urgent question if anyone is on line that can help. In brief we are looking to buy our first T25 and we have found what seems to be a pretty good example for a price that's fair but is actually not too cheap. It ticks all the boxes and seems very well maintained - I've been looking thru this forum and picked up lots of advice to check things out.

However, I have two questions that could sway our decision and I'm rolling them together here (sorry) even though one is not for engines - the reason being that we should probably make a decision on buy/not buy in the next few hours. Q1 is that I test drove it and it drove like a dream, but the temperature light flickered on and off for most of the second part of the drive. The owner has the bus maintained by a VW expert (and has loads of invoices etc) and told me: -

"I did ask my VW man about the temp warning light flickering when the vehicle is started when he was doing the last service, he assured me that this is normal and as long as it goes out as soon as the water circulates fully around the system there is no problem - he explained that the sensor for the light flickers at startup until the water circulates fully because it is sensing no water in the system. Obviously if the light stayed on after the first few mins, or came on when the engine is at normal running temp' then that would indicate a problem, but it never had and I have never had any kind of temperature issue....."

I wonder is this usual/plausible?

My other question is that it has a Reimo poptop that needs a new canvas - I've got quotes of c£350 for the canvas and a whopping £750 to fit. Are these fittable by a reasonable (but not fantastically good) DIYer (i.e. me) - I fear that at a price of £750 it must be an involved job!

Thanks - as I say I need to make a decision reasonably soon (tonight) asthere is alledgely a second offer on the van at my price so any help will be really appreciated, and i also appreciate it is just friendly advice that you give and I need to check these things out in other ways too.

I will introduce us very soon as T25 is the way we want to go....

Re the temp light, he is talking Crap about it sensing flow around the engine.
The temp light should flash (on-off-on-off, not flicker) for a few seconds when the engine is first started. This is a self test to show the light is working.
The Light should flash if the coolant level in the expansion tank (inside the engine bay) is low.
The expansion tank should always be full to the brim..
The top up tank behind the Number plate flap sholud be about half full and should automaticaly keep the expansion tank full.
Flashing while driving is an imediate STOP.... and check the coolant level, You dont say what engine it is but driving a waterboxer with low coolant can be terminal.
Flickering can be caused by a faulty connector behind the dash, or bad earths,

There is lots of info on the coolant light on here.

Sorry dont know about poptops.
T

Some info on the red light in the gauge is here.

It's supposed to flash a few times on ignition as a check it's working, flashing whilst driving shouldn't happen. Be careful. It could be flashing because the coolant level is too low. The pressure tank, with the level sensor in it should be brim full of coolant. The overflow tank behind the number plate can only be reliably checked when the engine is cold - as the system pressurises any excess is piped into the overflow and allowed back in to the main reservoir when the pressure drops again after it's cooled down. It may simply be a case of the system needing bleeding properly.

Can you have a word directly with the seller's mechanic, if he's being honest I'm sure he won't object.

Thanks for the response - I must admit that it didn't feel right, hence my urgent question on here. Sorry, i should have said that it is a 1.9 petrol water cooled engine. Getting strong feelings that with an expensive poptop fix, an unknown cooling issue and a non-bargain price maybe time to walk away..... shame as its a really nice motor otherwise and we'd grown attached. Still as my ol' dad used to say, plenty more fish in the sea.

Have a look at the wiki, (icon on the pale blue grey bar above) plenty of info on buying,
Most important buying advice is buy on body condition (the van not yours) Rust is more expensive to fix than most mechanical problems.
engines can be replaced.
As I said a flickering light is most likely to be faulty electrics, but I wouldnt bet my engine on it.

You dont say how much the van is, have a good look at the for sale section, that may give you a guide to average prices.

T

Hiu guys i have the same problem, the light keeps flasshing and the needle goes off the dial even when started from cold, it still does it when i dissconnect the temp sensor any ideas

LJWARNER wrote:Hiu guys i have the same problem, the light keeps flasshing and the needle goes off the dial even when started from cold, it still does it when i dissconnect the temp sensor any ideas

Hi there LJWARNER

Me thinks you should have started a new thread as your problem is not really the same, but no worries.
It is very likely a faulty relay number 43 or sometimes numbered 42.
It is not a relay but a complex circuit that controls the gauge and the red water LED.

Search on here for relay 43 and there are recent, ongoing posts about it.

It might also a bad earth in the speedo housing or a failed 9 volt regulator that feeds the gauge. The latter tho would affect the fuel gauge too.

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Gary, I don't know about the roof but I would not be totally put off by the water light.
If the water levels look ok when cold and there is no sign of ejecting water anywhere then it is likely to be a fairly simple electrical fault. (Perhaps in the level sensor wires that go to the top of the l/h header tank).

lJWARNER
The symptoms you describe iirc can be also be caused if connections to water temp, and oil pressure switch have been swapped over by accident, just something to check first.

Re the temp light flashing, I had the same and set about resolving it today. I checked the coolant levels in the expansion tank and header tank, all OK. I checked the sensor in the top of the header tank and even linked across the two terminals to mimic a full tank and the light was still on.
After a bit more head scratching and prodding, I noticed one of the spark plugs was loose (my fault......). Anyway, I tightened it, restarted the engine and lo and behold the light had gone out. Now I don't believe this to be coincidence but I cannot figure out how the two can be linked
Any ideas anybody?

Thanks
Neil

Gary217 wrote: Getting strong feelings that with an expensive poptop fix, an unknown cooling issue and a non-bargain price maybe time to walk away

Run Forrest ! Run !

I'm sure we'd all like to hear who the 'VW expert' is as well

Ian

leave it ... find another
Reimo canvass is a can of worms