This is driving me nuts.....
First I have a 98 RS with 134k and it started to get a little hotter than normal (the tick past 195). So, I replaced the termostat with the OEM one and now it does get past the first tick mark before 195. When I come to a stop it'll climb to 195 and stay there until I'm moving again and it'll drop.

I check the fluid level and it was good and no leaks so, I pulled the stat back out and check it to see if it was stuck open. Of course, it wasn't and once it was heated up, it opened. So, I put everything back together, topped off all fluids and ran it again. Same thing happened, sitting there it gets to 195 and once moving it drops.

Is there a way to bleed all the air out of the system? I notice there is a bleeder valve under the airbox tube.

Just giggles I did check the temp with a digital tester and the tube before the housing was 175 and right after the thermostat housing. The housing itself was at 275 so I thought maybe the exhaust is heating it up and keeping the stat open. I blocked with a make shift heat shield and ran it again....same thing.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

Does the cooling fan work?

 

Sitting in the driveway at idle everything works the way it suppose to. It heats right up to 195 and then the fan kicks in, but when I'm driving around it cools off and sits right on the tick mark before 195. The only time its goes back to 195 is when I come to a stop.