Hello,

At two different occasions this past weekend, the coolant temperature needle on the 1988 245 climbed to the upper end of the gauge (not into the red zone, but close). I noticed the coolant was low, so I put some more in. The problem continued after that, but I soon discovered that the temp. gauge would rise only when the brakes were applied. As soon as I took my foot off the brake pedal, the gauge slowly dropped to its normal position. The problem was not consistent, however. It does not happen all the time.

A few drops of coolant were spotted on the inside of the belly pan, leaving me to think there's a small leak at the radiator, but the car always had a decent amount of coolant in the expansion tank.

I was wondering if there's an electrical issue that could cause the temp. gauge to rise when the brakes are on. For what it's worth, the braided ground strap between the valve cover and firewall is fraying and I've noticed that the headlights (and interior lights) dim a bit when the brakes are applied. Could the bad ground strap be the cause of all this?