I bought my DD (92 Integra 5spd) in the fall so being in the NE the Radiator has never really been "Put to the test"



About 3 weeks ago, my needle shot up pretty high, wanting to overheat.



Come to find there is a lot of dirt and low coolant in the radiator. I ran a coolant flush kit (Prestone) for a while. After that I Fill it up (3/4 coolant/water), and it stays filled, for the past 3 weeks...



No puddle's under the front of the car wherever it's left. And no burning coolant smell at all. SOME signs of moisture around the radiator head but barely any!



Today, I'm using the A/C and driving in this 80 degree weather, and she wants to overheat again! Whereas only 3 days ago I took off the radiator cap and the fluid was visible (full). I turned off the A/C immediately and ran the car another 5 minutes without A/C and still (Mind you, this was only at stops, NOT while driving) the needle rose!



Take note: My fans work (Both come on when A/C is on, and only one [for the radiator] comes on when car is still). Also, my car runs "warm" meaning the needle on a normal day stays a hair under 50% between C and H.



This is also happening only at complete stops, or idling. Once I drive fast enough the temp go's back down considerably. And fast too, should the needle (I.E. Temp) drop as fast as 30 seconds apart from near Red (H) back to under halfway?



So what could it be? Thermostat? A really freaking odd leaking Radiator? Could using the A/c cause coolant to leak (But A/C is a whole seperate system!)?



It just doesn't make sense to me and I hate staring at my temp gauge as i drive..

 

so my rx-7's like "wtf mate wheres my paint"

 

try a new thermostat. my sisters honda kept overheating till i replaced hers.

 

Just thought I'd add that that is normal. I have a '92 RS 4 door and that's exactly where it stays when she's up to normal running temp.

 

Yea? Thanks. That's good to know.



The thing is, my old integra (93 Automatic) ran more like between 1/4 and 1/2 than being very close to 1/2 so I figured mine was running "warmer" for some reason.

 

Would that help the problem of loss of coolant? Or perhaps when I filled it up after flushing it, some needed to run through the wires/coils all the way?



It was showing a full radiator of coolant for 2 weeks straight and today I found I needed to add half a gallon of coolant...perhaps it "settled" or what? Not sure.



I think a thermostat is in order, easy to do and cheap eh?

 

yeah, might as well.. its only like 15-20 bucks.



i know that when my car ran really hot, it actually spewed coolant outta the overflow cap, it was just a little to full, but still it was running so hot, that it bubbled out the top. i replaced the thermostat and it corrected itself.



i also had a waterpump go bad on me.. i woud leak coolant, but it was very sporatic. i would be fine for a week or two, then i would notice coolant loss. i saw coolant leaking from the waterpump every so often, so i replaced it, and that solved that leak.



since your car is all flushed out, go ahead and change the thermostat, check or replace all your coolant hoses, and thoroughly examine your radiator and waterpump... those seem to be pretty common places where coolant leaks.

 

a bad water pump could also be the culprit, it might not

be flowing enough due to a bad impeller