Coolant Temp/Syn Oil

[jdbubb at verizon.net (Dan Bubb)]

Good bet that the alternator light coming on after driving through a puddle 
is simply the belt getting wet and slipping for a little bit.
I'd check all the v-belt tensions and make sure they're tight. The 16V has 
this slipper type arrangement, I believe on the water pump pulley, so the 
two pulleys can slip relative to each other, so really only one belt is 
driving the water pump.
Anyway, it sounds unrelated to your change to Synthetic (maybe you spilled a 
drop of super slippery synthetic on the v-belts!) but, non-the-less I'd 
check all the belts.
Dan

From: "daniel savatteri" <yoscirocco@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: Coolant Temp/Syn Oil


> oil temp is fine, its just the coolant level that i'm concerned about. 
> And i just noticed today that it got really hot in the rain when i drove 
> through a big puddle, the alt light came on aswell.  I think the alt is 
> due for replacing along with the battery. But does this have anything to d 
> with he high coolant temp? Could a bad alternator be putting more strain 
> on the engine causing the coolant temp to rise? I'm not a mechanic but it 
> seem logical.
>
>>From: "Jim Ruffi" <sciroccos@earthlink.net>
>>To: "daniel savatteri" <yoscirocco@hotmail.com>,<Scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
>>Subject: RE: Coolant Temp/Syn Oil
>>Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2005 12:44:42 -0400
>>
>>Hey Dan.
>>The AC switch also causes the fans to kick in, which provides the extra
>>cooling you're getting.
>>As far as the oil temp, I'll leave that to the other listers.
>>Jim
>>
>> >-----Original Message-----
>> >From: scirocco-l-bounces+sciroccos=earthlink.net@scirocco.org
>> >[mailto:scirocco-l-bounces+sciroccos=earthlink.net@scirocco.org]On
>> >Behalf Of daniel savatteri
>> >Sent: Friday, July 08, 2005 12:38 PM
>> >To: Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
>> >Subject: Coolant Temp/Syn Oil
>> >
>> >
>> >So I started using Moble 1 15w50 in my 16v.  My highway cruising coolant
>> >temp has risen to above the led on the gauge (needle just clears the
>>LED).
>> >Goes back to normal when sitting still. The strangest thing was
>> >that when I
>> >put the A/C on the coolant temp drops to normal (needle directly
>> >on the LED)
>> >when cruising. This is the same viscosity oil I use in the Castrol
>> >GTX which
>> >I've never had a problem with for years.  I know synthetic oil is
>>slightly
>> >thinner than reg oil but that shouldn't be the culprit. Coolant level is
>> >correct and is relatively new, I do need a new battery and am
>> >suffering long
>> >cold starts because of the battery.  I'm stuck, need advice from the
>> >almighty list. Please Help!
>> >
>> >Dan Savatteri
>> >Black MK2 16v