Well the temp guage is stabilizing now, although much higher than it should be (averages between M and A on short trips). The coolant did go down a bit in the reserve tank, so I think we did work out some air bubbles by taking off the cap and idling, (then running with cap on for short trips a few hours apart).
My dad discovered that Autozone gave us a much higher thermostat than was originally in there (195 degree as opposed to 188) which may be contributing to the higher reading. Also, according to
this, it's entirely possible we didn't install it correctly. However, both low speed and high speed fans are turning on even on these short trips. Dad insists that since it's still in 'normal' range it's perfectly fine to drive, where I am *highly* paranoid and therefore uncomfortable with the fact that the fans are turning on so quickly ... so he's taking my car to work tomorrow while I take his. If nothing stabilizes by tomorrow afternoon, or he gets stuck on the way to/from work, it's going to a mechanic that evening. If it remains stable (and possibly iff the fans remain off at normal speeds), then we may end up doing a second coolant change and swap with a 180 degree thermostat
, which I've seen recommended on the boards.
Skunk ... sorry to get this OT (hey, what are NECEGers for?) ... if I have any more to say I'll start a new topic.
