everytime when i come to a complete stop or stop and go traffic my water temp rises. even when my ac is on my temp seems to go up really fast, but when i start going faster on the freeway it tends to drop back to normal again. i have searched but i couldnt find a post which had a problem similar to mine. what do guys think the problem is? all replys are greatly appreciated. thanks.

 

I had the same problem with my Integra. Most likely it is a bad thermostat. When your moving you have air running across your engine and across your temp sensor which is why it is at normal temperature when your driving. When you come to a stop, as your temperature rises the thermostat switches on the radiator fans which blows air over the engine. With a bad sensor, your fan will never turn on and the heat will just build up under your hood. Possibly running low on coolant. If you were running low on coolant or leaking coolant, it would smell like maple syrup when you open your hood (smell of burning coolant). I am gonna have to stick with the thermostat idea though.

 

koo...how much is a thermostat?

 

Wow that has to be one of the best first post i have ever seen. Right on dude, but you had something wrong, the radiator fan cools down the radiator so the coolant is cooler, but you do get some amount of air on the engine, but thats not its cause.

Try checking your fluids first. With the AC on your car will heat up more then if its off. Its your heater that you want on to cool your engine.

Its about 45 dollars and its number 7:

 

Depends. If you really want to you can pick up a mugen thermostat at king motorsports which are really nice, or you can get one off of Ebay, pick one up at pep boys or advanced auto parts. It might also be your radiator fan itself. If that is broken then you would have to replace all of that. In that case, that would be a good excuse to get an aftermarket fan!!

 

Yea that makes more sense. Good call luserkid. Missed that part.

 

aiight koo...im gonna flush my radiator fluid and add new fluid and put in a new thermostat today...hope that works. thanks for all the replys guys.

 

the fan does go on

 

I just had the exact thing happen to my in my 92 civic. it was about due for a coolant flush & new thermostat. So I flushed the cooling system & replaced the thermostat and it was back to normal. Id try that first

 

See even if the fans werent working suprfast, when he started moving again, air would be coming into the engine bay and cool off the radiator just like the fans do, thereby dropping the temperature gague just like he says happened.

 

gauge sorry

 

yo mean what year car do you have depends on the year both fans should come on and when you say the fan comes on which fan comes on??if you aree looking from the frt of car .....