In my 92 si, ive been having this problem off lately. Twice in between i came back from school for the weekand (the car had been sitting for about 1 month each time). Sometimes, it would take a while for me to get 1 bar on the temp guage. A lot of times, normal driving or revving a bit, suddenlyby itslef, the temp guage would go from 2 bar to 1 bar on the guage. What could be the problem?

 

Simple, just check the connection to the sensor on the head. It's a little crappy plastic piece. Mine is fucked up, too.....

It's the single wire plug right under the distributor.

 

I second that, and its a long shot but on my old civic, I thought forever it was my gauge, because the car would get hot, then as I started driving it would go back to C, it ended up being a stuck open thermostat.

 

its most likely a thermo stuck open

 

if i use the car like this in between a couple of times, it shouldnt affect/damage anything right?

 

The thermostat is stuck open. Change it. Costs like $5, + a $2 gasket. Easy!