Diesel,

Waynesville is a nice area. I have vacation place near Brevard so am aware of the good weather you have up there.

Your cooling issue can be complicated, unfortunately. I read many posts from people who have done about everything possible and still can't get the temp down to where they want it ( most seem to like the 85 c area). But...many times I have seen very experienced people say that 100 c is ok. More than that on regular basis is another story. My car runs between 90 and 100 but never over 100.

Some ideas that you might pursue:

- take the radiator off and clean it. in between the rad and the a/c cooler trash can and does collect. getting the rad off is pretty easy but you do have to disconnec the trans cooler lines. if you do this, replace them with new ones that have wire on the outside.

- buy another thermostat and install it. they can vary somewhat.

- replace waterpump. not too difficult or expensive and a good preventive maintenance thing anyway if yours is old.

- make sure valves are adjusted correctly.

I wish you luck. Search under various related topics and you will find all kinds of info. Apparently, at the worst end, something can be wrong inside the engine that just prevents cool operation.

Nic
Columbia, SC
'85 300CD @ 150k miles