Car= Stock 1996 integra DB8 GSR
I was driving home tonight from work when I noticed my temp gauge was fluctuation quite a bit. never got past the middle but still something that caused concern. I pulled off the fwy into a gas station, popped open the radiator cap and there was allot of (air/steam) at first. Thats when I felt the upper hose HOT and the lower hose cold. So I went inside the gas station got some coolant and topped off the radiator and drove the rest of the way home. The temp gauge fluctuated a little bit, but not as much as before. My heater also never got cool, it always stayed hot. When i got home I parked the car left it running and popped the hood and checked the hoses, same thing upper=hot lower=cold. Sounds like a bad T-stat????

Sorry for the long post.

 

My lower hose is often cold after very short trips or idling in the garage. I think its just because the thermostat hasn't opened yet

 

The thermostat is the easiest and cheapest to replace, but before you do that...

Make sure you bleed all the air out of the coolant system, a fluctuating temp gauge is almost always due to air in the system, it would also account for no heat, [air lock in heater system].

I would also want to know why you were low on coolant in the first place, you may have a leak, check the top of the rad, [where core is crimped to the top cap] it is very common for them to leak there. 94

 

Looks like I have a leak right at the plastic drain valve on the bottom of the radiator.I wonder if I should just replace the T-stat anyway. Not sure if its true or not but I have heard that if you have a hot air pocket stuck at the T-stat area, that it could melt it closed.

 

It can't hurt to replace the thermostat, they are cheap and easy to swap out, however you will need to replace the rad, a leaking rad will allow air into the system resulting in the symptom's you are having, no heat and fluctuating temp. gauge, it also results in uneven engine temp. and can cause other damage. 94

 

Turns out it was just the rad drain plug, the little o-ring was bad. So im going to install a new drain plug and new T-stat.

 

Well I drove the car into work tonight. Did good 84 miles fwy driving @70-80mph. The temp gauge stayed right at about the 1/4-1/2 mark I guess its safe to say my water pump is A-OKAY?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfOc7J3fDrw

 

Congrats on the repair
Very powerful sig btw. I like

 

Thanks!! you are the 2nd person to say that. It's just so very true.

 

your temp gauge should stay near the 1/2. it shouldnt drop down to 1/4th at any time

 

well its just shy of the 1/2 mark really

 

X2

 

Thanks!

 

Glad to hear you found the culprit to your problem.I like the sig too,Matt.

 

Yeah, been a few days now and the temp needle is solid now. I love it when i can officially fix something.....lol

 

another +1 for the quote

I'm curious, what is that long cable going attached to the cam shaft holder?


Btw, your ground is in the wrong place. its suppose to be under the valve cover stud fastener.

 

Oh yeah thats a custom engine ground wire system I put together. I'm using 8 gauge cables all thru the engine and the trans. The engines electrical seems alot more stable now than with the 2 wimpy factory grounding wires.