I have a 88 prelude si that has been acting up lately. Whenever I'm sitting in traffic or at a stoplight the engine temp goes up almost to the red. As soon as I start driving it goes back down to the normal temp. Im pretty sure the fan is working fine because sometimes when I turn the car off it runs for a little while.

I checked the fluid levels and they are full. But I did notice that the cap on the overflow tank was missing. Could this cause a loss of pressure in the system and be the over heating problem?

If anyone has any ideas, let me know. Thanks.

 

Anyone?

 

No, that cap on the over flow will not affect heating at all. Sounds like you need to double check and make sure your fans are kicking on when your just sitting there. Drive your car for a little bit, pop the hood and stand there until the fans kick on. If they do not, theres your problem. They should kick on within 2 min. of sitting there after normal operating temperature. If the fans do kick on the next step that I would take is go to your local Honda dealership and get a new thermostat. That should fix your problem. If that does not work you should probably do a radiator flush and refill with new fluids. Good luck!

 

I just drove it and noticed that if I rev it up when Im stitting still the temp goes down. Im thinking that air or something is getting inside and the coolant isnt flowing as it should be.