Thanks for all the responses...let me give you answer your questions an give you an update.
1.) My shroud and fan are in good shape. The fan clutch is the original, but it seems fine. There are no leaks and slight resistance is felt when I manually turn it. I was under the impression that a fan clutch only rarely contributes to overheating problems and when they do happen, they generally occur at low speeds.
2.) The "burping" procedure I posted always seemed a bit bogus to me as well, but I did it anyways. (I read it somewhere...) I think the idea is to make the radiator the highest point in the engine (to encourage bubbles to leave), but even when I lift the car, the tube that connects the thermostat to the radiator still is still king of the hill. Regardless, I usually squish that tube to help purge any air bubbles.
3.) I live in Los Angeles - so heat is definitely a concern. For the reasons listed by Chris, I always try to run as much water as possible. I leave a little coolant in there for lubrication. I've tried water wetter and it doesn't seem to make any difference. :-(
Anyways, here's an update:
I tested the guage using 10 ohm and 75 ohm resistors. It works fine. I also hooked up another guage (from another 5.0) to the car and it reads within 3-5 degrees of my instrument cluster. I also took some resistance measurements across the temperature sending unit:
210 F = 30 ohms
200 F = 35 ohms
Can someone please check what numbers they get at like 180 F and 195 F?
Thanks,
Joe
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