No, that is not normal. As I said here 2 months ago when you first
started this thread, you have a wrong notion of what is normal based on
what your other van did. The temp gauge needle should be near or  right
against the bottom edge of the led, or even higher, as you go down the
road with the engine warmed up. Obviously, the outside air temp makes
some difference but the whole purpose of the thermostat is to keep the
engine temps fairly stable under all conditions and in the range for
best engine operation and lowest wear. Yours are not, since you have a
thermostat that keeps the coolant flowing too much a lot of the time.
Your engine is running too cool as you cruise on the highway and then
comes up to normal while you are stationary for a time with the engine
running.

Look at the parts data for other Audi and VW vehicles of the era ours
are from. You will find that 87 degree thermostats prevail, regardless
of engine type, vehicle type, turbo or not, etc. There are a few times
where an 80 degree thermostat is called for in certain climates or load
conditions. There are lots of examples where larger capacity radiators
are available, second helper radiators are available, different fans or
fan cowlings are available, all as options but with the same 87 degree
thermostat. That should tell you something, hopefully.

Mark

JordanVw@AOL.COM wrote:

> .....................
>
>got done eating, then drove back out on the highway, heater blower motor
>still OFF and needle came down to little more than halfway between red light
>position and fat white lower line.  stayed that way till i got home.
>
>honestly, it seems to be operating as a normal 85 vanagon should.     right?
>this is with the 70� t-stat in there currently.
>
>anyway i will borrow a IR gun to appease my curiosity..
>
>chris
>
>
>
>