Well first the coolant temp would be right around normal (just to the left of hte symbol) and then if it idled too long it would increase to just about right of the symbol. So I filled up the radiator and now its being incredibly cool when moving (between the smaller line and 1/4 way to the gauge) and when stopped its being somewhat normal (between 1/4 the way and to the normal position). I don't know what it could be. It's not staying very consistent.... Any ideas? Thanks

 

Maybe you have air in your cooling system?

 

how would that make it run cooler? If anything I would think it would make it run hotter.

 

sounds like you need to replace your thermostat, its probably in fail-safe mode now. Replace that and it should be back to normal.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mr. One Lane &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Maybe you have air in your cooling system?</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

I left it runnin for about 10-15 minutes with rad. cap off and it still does it.. So do you think its the thermostat? I would have thought if it was the thermostat it wouldn't have even gotten up to normal temps.

 

take it to a shop and get a pressure system check...ensures there are no leaks...happpened to my car and ended up being a bad radiator cap..btw its lke 15 bux or so

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HatchedGTI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I left it runnin for about 10-15 minutes with rad. cap off and it still does it.. So do you think its the thermostat? I would have thought if it was the thermostat it wouldn't have even gotten up to normal temps.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not Necessairly. Make sure your system has no air in it. Just coolant. Put the cap on ur radiator. If you let it sit idle for a while (it should take longer than normal if ur thermostat is stuck open) it will get up to normal temperatures. But as you start driving you will notice that it will not stay that temperature. It will drop because its a constant flow through the engine and the Radiator. Theres nothing to regulate it. So it will cool down faster.

I say just replace ur thermostat. Theyre cheap and its not hard to do.

 

mine does that too. its all normal if i'm not driving just idling or in town, but as soon as i get on the road temp goes way down to cold. below cold. on the hwy it looks as if i just started the car. so this means my thermostat is stuck open? does that hinder performance?