Sorry, I forgot to post about that. I used a standard Wahler thermostat that I bought from Pelican, part number 944-106-019-00-M2. I used the larger of the two o-rings. There is no belly pan in place. It was long gone when I bought the car. I wonder if that makes that much of a difference in air flow. Something to consider as a viable option. Both my early 85 (with a metal pan) and my 85.2 (with a plastic pan) have no cooling issues at all. Fans work properly, tray is in place, fresh coolant etc. There is a good chance not having a belly pan is causing this issue if its vital to directing air through the radiator.

Yesterday, I was flushing the radiator with a hose (crude but effective) by spraying water into the coolant expansion tank and watching it drain out of the lower radiator hose and into a drain pan. I kept seeing a lot of what appeared to be aluminum shavings in the water coming out and saw some chunks of scale come out as well. I kept flushing water water until the scale and the metal shavings were at a minimum. Then I filled the system with water and the flush. The flush says that the engine needs to be run for 3-6 hours for the flush to be effective. Looks like I have some driving to do this weekend, lol. Will be nice if the flush actually works and when I drain it, I see large scale chunks come out. It would reinforce my theory that the radiator is clogged internally.

 

Nice work! Enjoy driving this weekend - great looking 944, very clean!
And thank you for choosing Pelican!

Mark/Pelican Parts

 

I just recently bought an 87 in that exact color combination and I`m hoping to get mine in as fine shape as this one. Man ..... that is a beautiful ride! Anyone in the Philly suburbs can help a rookie sort out his vacuum lines?

 

Congrats on getting it back on the road! Enjoy!

 

So, did anything out of the ordinary come out of your coolant system after draining the flush?

 

I am going to drain the radiator today. I drove it last night while it was chilly outside and put about 20 miles on the car. The temperature gauge stayed right at half way for most of the trip and then crept up a bit closer to 3/4 but did not get to that 3/4 mark until I shut the engine off. Once I started the engine back up and went down the road, the coolant temp dropped under 3/4. Not sure if the outside temperature was actually making much of a difference or if some of the scale is breaking down in the radiator. I've had the flush in there for quite awhile now, but the bottle says to drive for 3-6 hours and that it can be done over a period of time. The tires are really cupped on the outside and the ride is terrible because of the tire noise so I haven't been driving the car much.