I was driving my car today in the poring rain, and notice my temps were getting really high. It seemed that when my car was stopped at idle the temperature would increase and as I would start to accelerate and gain speed it would go down. It was still raining hard when I got home so I popped my hood and checked for any radiator hoses blown of etc.. everything looked good.. I was getting pored on but it looked like my coolant was low, could this be causing the problem and if my coolant was low wouldn't a coolant light come on? Just trying to figure out the problem myself before waiting hours in the Honda dealership tomorrow.

 

waterpump maybe? I have a similar problem with my 95 grand am

 

Its an ap2 and at average the temp bars would be 4-5 away from full and at one point at a really long light it got 1 bar away..

 

Well, cooling issues are a pain to diagnose since it could be a number of things. I'm working on my Civic with similar issues now.

So you said that when you start moving, the temps go back down. That would lead me to believe that the fan isn't turning on? Since you're moving, air is moving through the radiator, cooling the fluid. I would check to see if the fan is working. Try this, if you're at a light, turn on your A/C and see if that brings the temps down to normal. If so, it's most likely your fan.

If you are moving and your fans are working and the temps still fluctuate, I would check your thermostat or radiator cap. Your car is relatively new, so I don't think it would be anything else really unless it has high mileage. Then I would start looking at the water pump or dare I say it....the headgasket.

 

Does your car have modifry's ETC? If not you should be at 8 bars.

 

Hi, I would suggest starting the car and checking to see if the fans come on and off. If they don't, and the temperature starts to rise, I'd check for either the fan or the fan switch. Also, check for any blown fuses.

 

check your coolant level. Check for coolant leaks.
My gf's civic had the same problem, and it had a coolant leak. When your car is at idle, there is no air running over the motor, to help cool it, and no air passing through the radiator, not helping what little coolant you have in there to get cooler.
When you start driving, air passes through the radiator to help cool what little coolant you have left in the system, therefore, your temp levels drop. Check the radiator and thermostat, and the hoses.
It could be that the fans arent turning on, but i dont think thats the case

 

Also remember that after all that, you still have a coolant leak. Try to find out where the leak is and try to fix it too, otherwise it will always happen. Unfortunately, coolant leaks can be either really cheap, or really expensive.

 

There is barely any coolant in the car but nowhere around me sells the honda coolant. The honda dealership is a fairly far drive Hope it makes it.

 

my old car had that same problem. First it was the fan, but then air also go into the cooling system. Check the head gasket as this was the ultimate problem with my car. Leaky head, burnt coolant, level dropped, air got in. Fan was workign too hard, blew fuses. Head warped. BMW's are shit, end of story.