My car overheats when it's at idle or just not moving, once I'm driving the car, it won't overheat at all and is just fine. As soon as I'm at a stop light, or just sitting in traffic, the temp guage goes up. anybody had this problem before or know what it is?

I think it's either the cap, thermostat, fan switch, or air in the coolant lines. Am I on the right track?

 

Three possibilities immediately come to mind. First, you have a leak in the system, resulting in not enough coolant. Second, your fans aren't coming on. Third, your thermostat is stuck closed.

 

If your lower radiator hose gets hot, it means the thermostat is doing it's job.
I would say bleed the coolant and make sure your fans are running.

 

yep, i would guess fan or fan switch first, since once there is better airflow through the radiator you are doing ok. if it were the the tstat, the temp will generally get hotter while you're driving since the engine is working harder, and cool down when you stop (which is opposite your problem).

 

Agreed, wasn't thinking fully. And as I said, it could also be just low coolant caused by a leak. That would exhibit the exact symptoms you are having. And this I know for a fact sadly, because of first-hand experience.

 

I've checked today and my fans are working. I also recalled my sister's acura having a thermostat fail and it was running colder than normal...i think it was stuck open.

....anyways, i still have the problem.

 

I've been having a similar problem for a long time. I've changed my tstat, hoses, coolant, everything. I flushed it lots of times too. Someone suggested that I might just need a new radiator because maybe it's just clogged. I haven't gotten around to it yet for financial reasons, but I have no problems during the winter. The ram effect is enough to keep my car cool for now.

Just my 2 cents.

 

My 2 cents? If you don't have low coolant, than you probably have a clogged radiator. I've been there before... 1/2 of the radiator was clogged. We found that out after replacing the thermostat, which did not fix the problem. It also caused a lot of pressure to build up under the cap.

 

Most likely you are just low on coolant.

 

I have the same problem now, my thermostat is stuck closed.

when idling, if you hit rev the car steadily do you see the temp drop back down to normal?

 

might also check your headgasket. i had an over heating problem and i replaced everything including my radiator. i noticed dots of oil in my radiator fluid so i changed the headgasket and it was all good.

 

when the car is still and i rev the temp goes up.

 

I have the same problem but when I rev it goes down. I have recently replaced my radiator, ttemp, and hoses. I have tryed bleeding the system but I'm not sure if I did it right. Can air bubbles be the cause of a problem like this?