Hi,

I am suspecting that my 1994 C180 (1,8 liter M111) @95000km is running a little hoter than it should be. I say "i suspect" because my temp gauge is displaying 80 in normal cruise and rarely increases to 85 in stop-go city traffic which i assume is perfectly normal. But last weekend while i was stuck in traffic i was shocked to see evaporation coming from the surface of the hood (it was raining heavy) i immediately checked the gauge and it was 85, but it was obvious that something was wrong under the hood so i pulled to the side and touched to the hood by my hand IT WAS HOT. Opened the hood, checked the expansion tank and level was ok. Except the excess heat coming from the engine nothing seemed wrong there. But is it normal for hood to beome too hot to touch (cause rainwater to evaporate) while gauge displaying 85? I know 1994 M111 has a visco coupling fan clutch.
Is it possible that both fan clutch and temp sender unit for gauge passing away at the same time leading me to a catastrophic overheating situation?
Or am i exaggerating the situation?

I have learned a lot from this forum while owning my previous cars (W115, W116 and W123 with much less electronics and more DIY 's than W202) and as a new owner i do not know much on W202.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Umut