engine temperature: when to worry?

sorry to hijack your thread but i took a picture of mine and maybe it can help you with your situation

Cruising on level ground and in stop and go


On an incline (day or night)


smaller/shorter inclines don't take it as high

 

I wouldn't be comfortable with that. How old is the coolant? Rad cap changed recently? How does the rad look internally? I would definitely invest some time going through the cooling system and checking/replacing/cleaning parts as needed.

 

the coolant was changed in Dec when the water pump was changed. The radiator cap and thermostat haven't been changed. I'm just as much a newbie myself so what would i look for in the radiator?

 

I was just searching for something else when I came across this website. I didn't go through the whole thing, I think it is from some Honduh site but it seems pretty in depth and relatively generic (and noob friendly) in trying to diagnose cooling system problems.

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/overheating/index.html

Things I would look for in a radiator are brown/murky/dirty/sludgy coolant. If there is any question it wouldn't be a bad idea to take it to a rad shop. Could be clogged internally.

 

Coolant was very rusty when I changed it last month; only a little rusty after that month.
Did replace the cap, and most of the hoses (after two of them ruptured one day apart!), and the water pump (leaking from the gasket).

I haven't taken it to a radiator shop, because, well, they charge as much to test my 20 year old, 112,000 miles radiator-- as it would be for me just to replace it for $100 with a brand new one!

Question then; when I drained the fluid for the water pump swap, it took well over an hour, maybe 2, of a slow stream to empty out the 2 gallons of antifreeze.
Is this how it is supposed to behave, or is it a sign of internal buildup? Should the fluid pour out much more rapidly?

 

Where did you drain it from?

 

Did you leave the cap on or take it off? How much did you open the petcock? Some petcocks seems to dribble out and others seem to gush out. 2 hours is definitely a long time to drain coolant though.

 

Yeah....I was wondering if he drained it from the radiator petcock without removing the cap?

 

The threaded plastic valve at the bottom passenger side; I did of course open the cap

 

Went ahead and replaced the radiator, and then did ANOTHER flush, a few days ago.

Definitely an improvement. In 103F weather yesterday the temperature gauge never went past the R on N O R M A L, where from previous experience, such weather would have pushed it at least to the A if not the L. All fixed