Car slowly overheating

[1lowcoupe]

ALright guys i just had a few questions. My 88 lxi whenever you are driving its normal then when you stop it slowly starts to rise untill you start driving again then its back down to normal.. what could be the problem?? you think it could be a bad thermostat?

[Bass Man]

Sounds like your fan isn't working. I got a thermostatic switch for mine and it works good.

[1lowcoupe]

Sounds like your fan isn't working. I got a thermostatic switch for mine and it works good.

see thats the thing the fan is working tho. it runs and turns on perfectly fine

[ghettogeddy]

air in the system is my guess

[Bass Man]

Flush the radiator and put brand new fluid in. If you're thinking about it, use either premixed 50/50 or get some distilled water to mix with the unmixed fluid.

Other than that, you may need to replace the water pump.

[nswst8]

While you have it emptied, change the thermostat! And put on a new radiator cap.

[w261w261]

Do this first: check and see if your coolant level is OK. It should be halfway up the bottle or so. Get a new radiator cap. Bleed the system with the little bolt near the thermostat. Next I would install a new thermostat. The cap and the thermostat should be done every once in awhile anyway, might as well do them now even if they don't help.

If your radiator fan is coming on as needed then you have a flow problem of some kind. If it persists after the cap/thermostat/bleeding then it's time to start considering the radiator or possibly the water pump. Is your coolant really gunked up (dirty brown color). If so, maybe the radiator is clogged.

But try the easy things first.

[1lowcoupe]

Do this first: check and see if your coolant level is OK. It should be halfway up the bottle or so. Get a new radiator cap. Bleed the system with the little bolt near the thermostat. Next I would install a new thermostat. The cap and the thermostat should be done every once in awhile anyway, might as well do them now even if they don't help.

If your radiator fan is coming on as needed then you have a flow problem of some kind. If it persists after the cap/thermostat/bleeding then it's time to start considering the radiator or possibly the water pump. Is your coolant really gunked up (dirty brown color). If so, maybe the radiator is clogged.

But try the easy things first.

yea alright so it has a leak of coolant somewhere its dark out i havent had time to look at it. i bought a new thermostat and im gonna pick up a radiator cap and replace them anyway then look and see if i cant find out where the leak is coming from. its on the front part of the motor. as in facing the exaust manifold/rad. i should say somewhere in that vicinity like the whole cooling area

[Civic Accord Honda]

my 4th gen will creep up to the red mark of doom every now and then if i forget to turn the cooling fans on... pretty sure its the thermostat (new rad, coolant,cap,water pump) so i would say try changing that out and see if it helps

[nswst8]

There are no coolant lines anywhere near the exhaust manifold, they are on the passenger side and under the intake mainfold.

The only thing remotely close is the upper radiator hose and the heater hard line under the distributor.

You had better check this thoroughly, and hope that the head gasket is not leaking.

[w261w261]

Also, learn how to easily check the coolant level in the bottle, which I think many people do not do because it's a pain and they are too lazy. Fluid monitoring is a MUST in an old car, and the penalties can be severe if you don't.

To check the coolant level in the bottle, you have to have dark coolant and a reasonably translucent bottle. Don't use Prestone (yellow colored) because it's hard to see, and clean the bottle out (remove battery and battery shelf, remove bottle, clean with phosphoric acid (The Must for Rust, pool tile cleaner, etc). Peak antifreeze is dark colored. Get comfortable with shining a light down and judging where the level is.

Now check the hoses. This is something else that some people never do until they blow. Again....duh! They're not that hard to replace, except maybe on the f.i. cars the little one that goes from the IACV to under the intake plumbing. If the hoses are ok maybe you have a small leak somewhere, so get some Barrs (the little worms in a bottle) and do it once, but don't overdo it either. That might fix you up. But don't do it before you check the hoses.

[1lowcoupe]

alright guys verdict is water pump is bad. it was easy to tell as soon as i popped the hood on her. so i got the water pump, timing belt and alternator belt replaced. im gonna take out the a/c i dont need it.

[w261w261]

alright guys verdict is water pump is bad. it was easy to tell as soon as i popped the hood on her. so i got the water pump, timing belt and alternator belt replaced. im gonna take out the a/c i dont need it.

You live in OK and you don't need a/c? You must be one coooool dude.

[nswst8]

You live in OK and you don't need a/c? You must be one coooool dude.

He probably means: "It don't work and I'm not gonna fix it so I'll take it out, you know weight reduction"

[Bass Man]

Cool! You got it all fixed. :thumbup:

Use the right fluids and it will outlast your car!

[Civic Accord Honda]

He probably means: "It don't work and I'm not gonna fix it so I'll take it out, you know weight reduction"

Exactly... That's what I've done on all my cars except this one.. I actually fixed this cars :eek5:

[A20A1]

alright guys verdict is water pump is bad. it was easy to tell as soon as i popped the hood on her. so i got the water pump, timing belt and alternator belt replaced. im gonna take out the a/c i dont need it.

Sometimes if you run the heater and you notice the air is hot and then gets cold or never heats up then it could be the water pump. Running the heater as an early warning system and as a second radiator saved me a few times from overheating badly in both my corolla and my accord.

[1lowcoupe]

You live in OK and you don't need a/c? You must be one coooool dude.

lol just moved here from Phoenix Arizona and never had an a/c out there not a problem at all man.

nswst8 was right tho i dunno about the weight reduction.

[nswst8]

Cool, if you didn't need it in Phoenix, then you should be cool in OK. Now just keep that cooling system maintained.

[1lowcoupe]

Cool, if you didn't need it in Phoenix, then you should be cool in OK. Now just keep that cooling system maintained.

oh yea, one thing i dont play around with on my cars is cooling system and the blood of the motor. i mean i have seen my cars through some hearty miles still running strong. my 92 cb7 has 271k and the 88 has 220k all on the original motors.