Hi All-

I just installed a thermostat+bracket from AA in my '73 2.0 as the PO had removed the original hardware and was running with the flaps full-open.

The design looks quite different than the OEM one. It looks to my novice eyes like a Beetle thermostat.

I have a few questions that I'd appreciate any help with:

Does anybody know the story behind the AA thermostat?

Is it a modified beetle stat like it looks?

If it fails, will it fail with flaps open or closed? (I think the OEM stat was designed to fail with flaps open -- please correct me if I'm wrong...)

Is the temperature operation close to OEM?

Anybody use one? How did it work for you?

Thanks.

Try this
@dr914 @autoatlanta.com

Interestingly this will not display as typed, what I was getting at was the good doc may want to explain how it works. We all could benefit

You are right. It is a VW thermostat probably made in Mexico. Works the same as stock except it is not fail safe. If it fails, the flaps will remain closed. You can read more about the differences on this site: http://awesomepowdercoat.com/thermostat_flaps.html

I got one from them, they are just like the original.

Got mine there also. Works great. http://awesomepowdercoat.com/thermostat_flaps.html

From Awesome: “The new "VW Mexico" thermostat is shown below. It obviously
looks different, but it functions the same. When heated, it gets
longer, opening the thermostat flaps. The downside of this stat is
that it is not fail safe. If the wax ever leaks out, it will hold the flaps
closed, unlike the German style that will expand if the liquid leaks
out.”

AAs will work fine but you need to keep an eye on the temps in the engine. I would not risk it as you never know it may go out. I sure it would last a very long time but why risk it. An overheated air-cooled Eng. is no Bueno.

Bob B

There's liquid in it ?

Just been through all this,most of the VW forum guys point out the lack of fail safe,haven't read anything any where about them failing ,but parts can fail however and that should be taken into consideration,certainly better that not having any thermostat.
The conversion of a beetle T1 thermostat is easy but they do open earlier ,the one I tested had a 10C difference over the T4 one which is fully open @ 90C,again better than not having one,I didn't check the supply on theSamba but expect they would be easy enough to find and prices should be lower than a used T4 one.
Ratwell site mentioned that failure of the stock Wahler type is often caused by the cable being too tight causing the bellows to split...makes sense,they mentioned keeping the cable slightly loose.
I still think its buyer beware,but if VW fitted them @ the Mexican beetle factory they should be ok.

Thanks all.

I wish I'd known about the Awesome OEM-style ones before I bought and installed the AA one. Oh well.

I wonder if the Awesome ones are "new old stock" or new production? If they are 40+ years old, I wonder how the bellows will hold up...

I think I'll stay with the AA one for now and just keep an eye on the temp gauge. The lack of failsafe worries me a bit, but the part has been used in millions of beetles without issues, right?

(Or is there something inherent in the 914 design that makes a thermostat failure more catastrophic than in a beetle?)

Cheers.

They work great till they do not


Bob B

The Awesome ones are new production. I think I remember seeing that they also do or did sell NOS when they were available but mostly they sell new reproductions. They are also great to deal with. I can't imagine copper bellows would go bad from just sitting and never cycling.

I don't know about the beetle design, but failure of an OEM thermostat on a 914 is obviously a non-issue since it fails with flaps open for max cooling. The only thing it causes is longer warm ups and the related wear on the engine. I don't think I'd want to run the VW thermostat without a temp gauge to monitor if it fails. Otherwise, seems like it would be okay.

Then you need tools to release the bellows cable from the little crossbar. On the side of the road. Bent over the car. Perhaps in the dark or the worst possible time. Better a unit that fails on the safe side.

I bet George only runs the proper ones on his cars.

http://www.awesomepowdercoat.com/thermosta...ed_rebuilt.html

Hi All-

Resurrecting this thread from last fall...

Based on the collective wisdom of the posters here, I ended up installing one of the "German Style" fail-open thermostats from awesomepowdercoat.

But, I'm having some issues. There seems to be a lot of stiction in the cable and flap action, so the flaps don't entirely open or close on their own without being nudged. Looking closely, it appears that the pulley is bolted in place and does not rotate as the cable slides across it. awesomepowdercoat has a picture of a pulley on their site that seems to spin on a sealed bearing. But googling pictures/diagrams of the 914 pulley doesn't seem to show a bearing. (Maybe their photo is of a VW pulley?...)

So, is a 914 ('73, 2.0L, to be precise) thermostat pulley supposed to spin or not? Is it supposed to be fixed to the engine/trans, or is it supposed to spin on a bearing?

Thanks.

I don't have one in front of me but I thought it spun on a bushing. If so, you might just have to smooth out the bolt the pulley rides on and add some lube.

also make sure the cable isn't too tight. I like to get the engine fully warm, then adjust the cable till it's just barely snug. When the engine cools, it will pull the flaps closed. Much easier than trying to do it cold, pulling the flaps while trying to tighten the cable.

Always fun to watch it in-action...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFrcKSB-oUM

Just for data contribution. I had an awesomepowdercoating thermostat in my ‘74 1.8 which failed where the top plate is soldered on to the bellows. My VW guy had a used original thermostat and installed that and all satisfactory.

I was curious about how they soldered on the top plate to the bellows and kept the bellows in the compressed state. Must have been some thoughtful heat management

Wow i remember when these were like 10 bucks each so many years ago.

@Mikey914

That's because his username contains an @ which means you have to put his name in double quotes to make it work.

"username_with_special_character_in_it_needs_to_be_in_double_quotes"

@dr914@autoatlanta.com

Update:

I finally got under the car and took off the pulley. (I gotta get a lift one of these days...)

The pulley is supposed to spin on a shoulder bolt with a simple bushing. Some PO apparently over-tightened the bolt and had worn a groove in the block, causing the pulley to be pinched/frozen when the bolt was tightened. I suppose you could face the boss on the block with a file, but I ended up just adding a washer to get the right spacing. The washer should also serve as a wear surface to prevent any gauging of the block by the pulley itself.

OTOH, it looks like my apc thermostat may have quit. It doesn't seem to want to contract back to it's "cold" size. (Maybe a pin hole in the solder...)

Thanks all for your help/comments.

Whoever cranked the bolt down was trying to prevent oil leak. This is an open hole into the case.

@914Sixer Ahhh! That makes sense. Thanks.

In that case, adding a washer may not be the best solution as it's probably more likely to leak there. Any suggestions for sealing that hole? The exploded diagram doesn't show any kind of gasket; the Haynes manual doesn't mention any kind of threadlock/sealant. Luckily, it looks like the threads were not stripped and are still good.

Thinking teflon tape might work. Quick and easy item to try.