I had a bad fan relay before that didn't turn the fan on. I have since replaced it and the fan turns on now. But the car still overheats at slow stop and go traffic. Temperature drops as soon as I pick up speed.

Before blaming my head gasket, what other things can I look at? My coolant level is full.

 

dont completley rule out the head gasket>>>due a compression check that should let u kno if the head gasket is leakin...what kinda motor is it

 

Since your problem only happens in stop and go traffic, the first logical area is your radiator fan. You said you replaced it and I assume you are 100% positive that it's coming on when you are overheating (maybe pull over when you notice it overheating and pop the hood to really make sure).

Whenever your radiator fan dies or anything else happens where the engine is allowed to overheat you should not only fix the source of the problem, but replace the thermostat as well. Often the overheating damages the thermostat so it never works quite right again.

Do you have a thermostat installed? not using one can give you issues as well.

 

^^^^ very good info thumbs up!!

 

Thanks for the advice. I am 100% sure the fan functions correctly since I have let the car idle long enough to see if turn on.

I'm also afraid that my temp sensor is bad allowing the temperture to rise higher than normal before triggering the fan (?).

My thermostat is new, but I will replace it and do a complete coolant flush this weekend.

By the way, it's a GSR motor, but a stock crx radiator should be able to handle it, right?

 

Happened to me. Replaced the radiator, and fixed.
It was old so it wasn't flowing well

 

^^^yup same issue when I first did my swap

 

My old EE9 had a similar problem and it was the water pump that was dying.

 

I'm gonna have to say water pump on this one too. Had this problem sometime ago on the way across the country. Going fast on the highway was fine, but the minute the car stopped moving; problems started showing up. Replacing the water pump solved the problem.

 

just check your thermostat and hoses and pump.
You can tell if they're going bad
You might be ok with new fluid

 

the radiator might be clogged. there are several things that can cause that problem, but everyone has already stated them