My 2000 Accord EX 4 dr sdn, 4 cyl has 264,000 miles. I am the original owner. My car is trying to run hot...these are the things that I have done on my car and the dates I did them. The radiator was replaced March '07, rad fan assembly replaced in 06, just replaced the air conditioner fan assembly yesterday-because it had died...then I replinished the antifreeze, fluids, etc....
I replaced all my belts & hoses & water pump 09/05 when did my last timing belt change....and my car does fine on the interstate-constant steady higher speed, but the minute I get into "in town" traffic....it starts trying to run hot. It is driving me crazy! I let the car cool down completely...check the fluids and everything is almost completely empty again..The air works great and otherwise..the car is running awesome....so....where do I go from here? what do I check and how do I check it??
I need help please...

 

If fluid is being lost is is exiting the cooling system from a leak. The coolant can leak directly to the atmosphere from the cooling system or it can leak into the combustion chambers of the engine. If you don't find a visible leak, have a compression test performed. I like to check for blown headgaskets with an overheat condition by "sniffing" the radiator for the presence of hydrocarbons. Any smog equipped shop can do this.

 

so...don't have to worry about it being my thermostat or the water pump at this point then? and if it is going into the head gasket.....does that mean I am in for big time money repairs?...just curious

 

I have not seem any visible signs of leaking...only that I know the pop off valve has released a couple of times and when I stop as it getting hot....and I saw antifreeze then....

 

Most shops have coolant pressurizing tools. They can pressurize the system with the engine off to find leaks. Also, if you don't have a compression guage, you might have to take it to a shop. I recommend getting the car diagnosed. Hopefully, the engine hasn't been damaged yet from running hot.

 

are your fans working?

do this

turn car on and turn on a/c fans should turn on immediately, if not you got problems

 

just get a new thermostat

 

both fans are working fine ...no problems there.
Any other things that I can check myself that you can think of? I did check the oil to see if I could see any presence of water....everything looks really good there too. Can I check the gaskets or is that something that a shop is going to have to do for me....Kim

 

question as far as the thermostat....once the pop off valve releases to let off steam as it did the other day....does that make the thermostat no longer work efficiently or correctly? I know that really sounds like a "girl" question....but I know no other way to ask it....Kim

 

could be one of 4 things

1. bad rad cap easiest and cheapest to replace
2. bad t-stat second cheapest and second easies to replace
3. bad water pump (no longer circulates coolant
4. blown head gasket.

when a rad cap fails the valve inside usually sticks open and the coolant bubbles out when the coolant pressure rises (like when driving in city traffic)+