I thought a bad t-stat would cause coolant to constantly pass through the radiator. At idle, no air moving over the radiator, so he would get heat. At road speed, it would be over-cooling the engine... right?

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'85 300TD "Puff The Magic Wagon" - Rolling Resto
'19 Mazda CX-9 Signature - Wife's sled
'21 Morgan 3-Wheeler P101 Edition
'95 E300d - SOLD
'84 300TD "Brown Betty" - Miss this one
'81 240D "China Baby" - Farm grocery getter

Depends on how it failed, but the symptoms as described are classic symptoms of a torn monovalve diaphragm.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

My thermostat is almost new. I bought the car last April with a bad thermostat that was stuck open. Replaced it in about March.

Thanks for the info guys. I'll order up that valve here later this week along with a new water pump since mine is leaking a tiny bit from the shaft seal.

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'85 Mercedes 300SD W126
'99.5 Jetta TDI