idle not grabbing sometimes, my friend turned the idle up a tad, and I'm not so sure that was the answer... but... yes, in my original post I mention wanting to find out "something" before I proceeded with the "process of elimination" meaning the cooling system steps you suggested, fortunately I worked at 2 different radiator shops (radiator girl ) when I was younger, so I knew about those things naturally. It's EVERYTHING ELSE I'm in the dark about, haha know what I mean? Anyway, it very well could be that it's a leaker like you said, I'll get back to you on HOW hot. Also, it seems like ever since my friend messed with the idle, that the tranny shifts into gears like REALLY hard now, like to the point of burning rubber. would you say that was an entirely different problem area? Thanks so much for your help and advice, I just love this site!!