Hey,

I have an 89 Legend Sedan that looks almost exactly like yours and had the same symptoms as yours. They replaced the thermostat, the fan switch, radiator. Finally, it turns out that there is a controller chip that tells the fans to come on and that chip had burned out. I almost got stranded on the highway and I would have, if I didn't have the presence of mind to call my mechanic asap. Here is a good test. If your temp gauge goes up half way or more, turn on the air conditioner. Old acuras (and I think hondas, too) were rigged to turn the fans on automatically if you turn on the AC. If the fans turn on when you are using the AC, but didn't turn on normally, that fan controller chip might be the culprit. Good luck and get that fixed soon because it is no fun trying to drive with smoke coming out of your car!