Oil temperature light ?????

[Burnsy]

A mate of mine went to look at this :-
1988 E Reg VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 1.8 GTi 2dr convertible
Manual 5 speed, 111,000 miles, White, MOT-04-2005. Adjustable seats, Alloy wheels, Colour coding - Body, Colour coding - Interior, Computer, Radio/Cassette. ?895

But noticed when he started the car up a red light was flashing on the dash board.The guy said it should go out after a while but it stayed on during the test drive.My mate said hed think about buying it and until he seen me as i had a Mk2 (Now a Mk3 Vr6 ) and if i remembered this light on my old un .
The guy called him back saying he had sorted the light out and said it was an air lock in the rad system.
Can anyone clear up what this light is and what the problem sounds like and when it should go out .
TiA

[mad_allan]

Mine does this everyday, when I start her up it will flash for a min, then go out, and flashes every now and again but I had it checked by a friend and all seems well

[Flidster_uk]

common fault on them, blinks on mine everynow and again, i took the clocks out some time ago to clean the contacts that reduced it somewhat. Part of the quirks like the temperamental MFA.