97 Civic HX with 256K

I just had the timing belt/acc belt/water pump/coolant change service done on my car.

Before the temp gauge would never move, it would stay in the middle.

Now it will randomly climb upwards to about 2/3rds and then come back down after several minutes to the middle.

Is there air in the radiator? I don't think it would be a head gasket leak (I sure hope not) b/c 1) it started after the service above and 2) it never climbs all the way up and always returns back down to normal.

What gives - any ideas - it still makes me nervous with all that mileage on my car...thanks

 

if a shop did the work and started doing that after they worked on your car I would bring it back to them. Could be anything really. Bad water pump, air bubble in the hoses, wrong coolant, thermostat going bad etc.

 

air in system. start with engine cold, remove radiator cap, let engine run while filling up the radiator with coolant.. close cap when theres no more bubbles. another trrick is to jack up the rf wheel of the car that way it tilts the engine.

 

Well, I took it back to the shop today. I talked with the head mechanic at the honda dealer who looked over everything. No air in the system, fans turn on, t-stat seems to be working. He thinks there is a blockage somewhere in the radiator - my best guess is that whatever new coolant they mixed with my old coolant might have stirred up some sediment - but I can't prove that. Geez, further proof if you want to do something right do it yourself. I just hate doing the timing belt especially this winter in the cold and snow and wet with no garage on dirt. Oh well off to NAPA for a new radiator and t-stat and we'll see what happens...thanks

 

Radiator is pretty easy to replace, just messy. I did it on my EG 2-3 years ago just to be sure everything with my cooling system was new.

 

if the radiator is plugged up, which is hihgly unlikely, your car will overheat.

i still say its air in the system. just do what i suggested yyou to do if it still happens.

 

Make sure you have the heat on full when you're trying to bleed air out of the coolant system, this makes sure air can't stay trapped in the heater core.