John,

If everything else is okay, and it seems to be, put in a new thermostat,
OEM or German only.  Some have a rubber gasket, and twice in the past
this has swelled or come loose restricting the coolant flow a bit and
causing the engine to run hot.  Easy and cheap, and I'll bet it will fix
your problem.

If you clamp off the hoses leading to the t-stat housing on the 1.9 you
won't lose too much coolant and won't have to bleed the system, but it
might be time to change it anyway, or switch over to Dexcool.

--
Stuart MacMillan
Manager, Case Program
800-909-8244 ext. 8208
Fax: 206-269-6360

Getting your share of the Net yet?
http://cobaltgroup.com
http://UsedEquipNet.com