Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:45:34 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Telemetry (was Re: Coolant pressure test... video.)
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re
At the core of all this though, there is a problem I am wondering how to
> solve... The telemetry that VW designed to monitor conditions in our
> engines is TERRIBLE!!! And as it ages it is not getting better.
Hey........why not one more thought added to the thread ?
VW in the vanagon with waterboxer engine does what almost ALL other cars
do - the have a temp sensor in the coolant, that operates a Coolant Temp
Guage or an overheat warning light. *Everybody* does it that way.
AND .........VW put in BOTH ! .......so where's the complaint ? You have a
nice well-working temp guage ( I think they are just FINE temp guages as
stock temp gauges go ) , plus a Warning light.
AND ........it's even a two -function warning light, both excessive temp,
and low level in the pressure bottle.
so that's THREE cooling system montoring features. Can't really complain
about that.
and yes..........an inherant issue with any coolant temp sensor system in
any car is that Sudden Loss of Coolant - like a massively burst hose, MAY
NOT show up on the gauge. The gauge reads the temp of coolant - if it's just
steam or air, it may not incidate overheating. Many engines have suffered
damage from very sudden near total coolant loss, since it won't always show
on the temp guage.
( however, in this case I beleive the temp indications where going off,. and
the operator continued driving. Citroen even had a big fat round red light
right in the center of the dash that said 'STOP !' ........for those who
need to be told when to get off the road and shut the poor thing down. )
And if there had been a cylinder head temperature guage ........perhaps the
operator would have paid attention to that. You can fit one if you wish.
Most small aircraft have them - but, it's more of an air-cooled engine
thing .........since you can't have a coolant temp guage on an air-cooled
engine .......
On a water cooled engine -that's what you go by - coolant temp, mainly,
temp-wise that is.
I am so picky -
If it is of any interest......we are not talking about "Telementry" here.
'tele' means 'remote or distant' as in television, telephone, etc.
'Telementry' means 'remote metering'...............as in radio transmission
of vehicle information to a site not on the vehicle.
So yes............VW does indeed have lousy telemetry on vangons
..........as there is no telemetry at all ! . "Metering" is what might
have been meant.
It's part of my asbergery condition - I notice the misuse of wards all the
time, by media, by everyone. Drive me nuts. but .........whatever !!
Ya gotta catch it early, and shut the poor thing down. 'Some' overheating
is not bad at all. And some engines are better at enduring overheating than
others. I have seen a Datsun engine run out of coolant until it was a
steaming volcano ...........we just let it cool down. replace the popped out
freeze plug, adjusted the valves.......it was fine, and it got cooked badly
too.
I look at my gagues and warning lights about once a minute driving a
vanagon.
sorry it's so long - last thought.
In aircraft it's called your 'scan' ........the regular pattern that you do
scanning all the guages every couple of minutes, constantly. while flying.
In automobiles it goes like this :
1. look all around you in front of your vehicle, everything you can see
close in.
2. look as far down the road as you can.
3. check in the rear view mirror
4. check speed and temp guage, and warning lights.
and repeat .......over and over .in a constant cycle while driving. It helps
to prevent all kinds of mishaps.
scott
www.turbovans.com
