running hot

[Kaferwerks]

car is an 89 ka24e.

temp is fine when driving on the highway but begins climbing in city driving, having the ac on makes the temp rise quicker and ac gets warmer as temp increases if that makes any difference.

i will be checking the coolant level, also bleeding out any air in the system.

my original thoughts were the thermostat or electric fan. maybe it was not working properly and not switching on the fans.how do i check this?

[180fan]

if you want to find out, you can have it sit idle, and watch the temp gauge and see if the fans get triggered.

[Bronze MFP]

stock clutch fan will cool better than an e-fan setup. flush your coolant, put all new coolant in, use some redline water wetter, make sure the system is bled properly and see if that doesnt fix anything. might as well replace your thermostat while all the coolant is out of the engine.

[ghettoslide]

If it does not overheat on the highway, but overheats in the city chances are it is your fan setup. If you have electric fans i would do as 180fan says. Pop the hood let it idle and see if the fans come on at all when the engine starts to rise in tempature out of the norm. You could try to hard wire the fan to a power source that stays on when the ignition is on. Then see if the car overheats. I say it stays cool on the highwawy because you constantly have air flowing through the radiator, in the city it is stop and go when you stop you overheat. Also make sure the weep hole is not leaking on the water pump. When the engine is moving faster than idle the fluid spends less time in the pump and more in the engine, when you slow down or idle it leaks and you overheat. try and keep the rpms at about 2000 when parked and the temp starts to rise and see if the temp drops back down. Also start checking for water puddles when you move from a parking space.