86 Iroc, 305 tpi, car runs around 160-170 while driving but heats up to around 230-240 ( when fans kicks on) when just sitting. Normal? Any direction would help before I start replacing everything. Was going to start with a lower fan switch and lower thermo? Thanks in advance.

 

Fan would be my first suspect, I'd also do a coolant flush before all else and see how much/if that helps.

Does the cooling fan actually turn on at any point? My old 'bird wouldn't turn its fan on unless you turned on the AC. The switch was toasted.

 

The primary fan doesn't turn on until around 222F. This is stock for emission reasons. Given the different sensor for the gauge and sensor, and that factory gauges are not accurate and hard to tell between 222F and 230F, it sounds like your case is normal.

The car runs cooler while driving because outside air is flowing through the radiator.

Do you have one single fan or dual fans?

 

Yes, my fan turns on around 220-230 cools motor down to 180-190. Motor stays around 160 while driving on highway. And I have a single fan. I'm going to do a complete system flush. Possibly a new radiator ( being that I'm noticing a small leak ) and a thermo. Thanks guys for ur help.

 

They sell an aftermarket switch that turns them on at a lower temperature. Unless yours is pcm controlled which I think that only the 2nd fan in a dual fan setup was im not sure though. I have dual fans, my primary fan is wired on all the time and the second fan is on a toggle switch in case things ever get too hot. Flush might help but i think the problem is your fan. I had an rs with a single fan and I just wired it on all the time, its not as good to have it on all the time but it works.