85 Rocco overheating

[murari@cfar.umd.edu]

Hi folks,

What is the normal coolant temperature for the 8V (1985) engine ?
As far as I could tell, my Rocco would run between 100 and 110 C
(ok, 212F and 230F) in warm to hot weather. I'm also pretty sure that
the coolant temperature never saw the wrong side of 230F. Over the
last week, I noticed that continuous cruising at 70mph (3400 rpm)
or higher speeds gets the temp gauge beyond 230F. In fact, at one
point, with the AC on,it was approaching 250F and I backed off
on the throttle until the temps climbed down.

The oil temp gauge was at the 2nd dot from the top at the same time.

My first guess was that the radiator wasn't providing adequate cooling
or that the thermostat wasn't opening. However, this problem doesn't
manifest itself in stop and go traffic (fan works fine) which
leads me to believe that the thermostat is opening.

What confuses me is the following : The thermostat isn't supposed
to open until the coolant is at 185F, right ? Well, If I start the
engine from cold and run it for a few minutes (temp approximately
140-150F), I can feel the upper radiator hose getting hot. This
means that the thermostat IS open, right ? 

After all this, I detect that the coolant level is about a quart low
(duh) and topped it off with 50-50 coolant and distilled water. This
morning, temperatures seemed to stay at 230F, but the ambient temperature
wasn't very high. I'll do some careful observing and report my results
here. 

I would appreciate any trouble-shooting suggestions from you gurus !
Thanks very much !

Murari Srinivasan
85 Scirocco 87k mi, Bronze Metallic.
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