The heater core is an auxiliary circuit seperate from the main one. It has an isolator valve which switches off the flow with the AC on max anyway - this is definitely not the cause of the problem. If it isn't a failed thermostat, it sounds very much like a blocked radiator to me, or a restriction to the radiator air flow as David said. Do check the stat first thougn, it's so easy to change and I have seen new ones that were no good. As the engine warms up from cold the right main hose should get hot with the left staying cold. As the stat opens, the left ones warms up and very quickly the right one goes cold. From that point, they warm up together till the fans come on. There exists the small possibility of the issue being something electrical with the temp gauge seeing as the ambient temperature seems to affect the apparent running temperature by more than one migh texpect. Martin ------------------------------------ To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnewsYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:dmcnews-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:dmcnews-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/