Idiot Lights

I have an '81 Rabbit Diesel. According to the owner's manual there are two rows of idiot lights. The top row has 5 lights: alternator, turn indicators, high beam, oil pressure and coolant temp. My car also has a clock with a temp gauge on top and fuel gauge on the bottom. Now the question. The book shows that all 5 lights have an icon above them. Only the four left ones on my car have an icon: the temp light does not. I've never seen the temp light on, but then, the car hasn't run hot since I got it. Is it possible that since I have a temp gauge there is no temp light? I'm asking because the car is about to be taken over by my teen-age daughter, and I want to know whether she has to watch the temp gauge constantly or whether there is a warning light that will give her a heads up. The PO overheated the engine (rad leak) and warped the head, which is why I got it cheap cheap cheap. I'd rather not have to replace the head, and its had its last shave: it's down to the minimum thickness.

my 81 rabbit-D does not have a temp LED. take a bright flashlight and look carefully at the "light" that is in question and you will probably find that it is black (the LEDs will show their color). the black LED look-alikes are just there to fill unused holes. tell our daughter to watch the temp gauge, it will probably climb to 1/2 of the gauge before the fan turns on. if you are paranoid about overheating and you have an a/c equiped rabbit (with a non-functioning a/c) then you are in luck because the radiator fan will turn on when a/c, max a/c, defrost, or bi level is selected (the interior fan must also be on). if the air contitioner does not work then disconect the leads for the compressor's clutch (who knows, it might still be functional. don't try to run the a/c without refrigerant and oil) and you have a great "panic button" for those really hot days with slow traffic. another idea is to find a newer two speed fan and splice the harness for the fan's high lead and ground lead to the wires that your single speed fan used. obtain a 30 amp relay and a tasteful swich to mount in the interior. wire the swiched pins of the relay to the starter hot (or B+,) and the low speed fan lead. activate the relay with the toggle swich from the interior, and now you have overheat insurance.

Seeing as how he is giving this to his daughter, I am sure he doesn't want to start hacking and splicing and do it the olde skool dub way...
To start, yes the leds on the dash are colored and and fill-ins are black plastic. If in fact you have a temp gauge on the dash, then you have a dummy light in that gauge, in the middle. Most likely. The temp should hover less than half of the guage and to the left. The fan should come on (if you use the stock thermo fan switch and thermostat) about half way up the guage or more... and should drop to about 1/4 from the left. There are cooler fan switches and thermostats that will make the car run even cooler, but for a deisel and the winter months, that may be a bad idea.

Open the hood and take the fill cap off the overflow/fill tank(so you can watch the coolant move when hot). Just run the car and let it sit, til it gets hot, and watch what heppens. When the car gets hot, the thermostat should open and you should see the coolant level drop and some come back into the overflow. The fan should turn on as well... Check the needle and see where it is when all this happens. That will give you an indication of "now sweety, this is the highest this temp gauge should ever go, if it gets MUCH higher, let me know..." not like she will watch it, I know my girlfriend doesn't pay attension. This rarely should get to that point, unless she is going to be sitting in major rushhour traffic... Check that the temp guage light is even hooked up... it should plug in on the coolant inlet at the front of the block somewhere.

Brakedown... if there is a warning light, with a temp gauge dash, it should be in the temp gauge. It will blink at about 3/4 - 5/6 on the gauge. It will also buzz if working properly. If worried, just have her keep an eye on it for about a month or so... As a pre-emptive measure, you should just go ahead and replace the thermostat and fan thermo switch... BOTH CHEAP AND EASY TO REPLACE YOURSELF. JUST MESSY.

Later...

My thanks to both of you. Very useful. I live in Victoria, B.C., and it doesn't get all that hot here usually: 30 degrees C is a pretty warm day here, even in August. I'll see if I can find the light in the gauge. That should be easy.