hi guys well last night after I got my car back from the body shop , (had to get a new bumper and a hood ) I was driving back to work and I notice the arrow next to the gas meter was up to hot , so I stopped the car but nothing was wrong. so i turned on the car and notice the arrow was back to normal , as I start driving I notice it going up again , so now then I'm like wtf . I keep my eye on the arrow and it goes from hot to cold , then from cold to hot constatly . the damn arrow won't stay in the cold , it keeps going up and down , even after I refilled my coolant . what can it possibly be? I would really appreciate it thx guys

ps was fine before I took it to the body shop

 

Could be half a dozen things from a bad water inlet and thermostat to a bad water pump.

 

did they by chance (don't know why they would...) drain and refill your radiator? if so, sounds like air bubbles in your coolant system.

 

keep bleeding the coolant.. you may have an evil air bubble.. that is under the assumption that you recently service your coolant within the vehicle..

 

yea they drained it , I had to replace the coolant , also now I've notice that it makes this fan noise after like 20 seconds into driving and doesn't come off, the noise would only be on sometimes when the car would go idle, now its on constant

if its just a bubble should I have em take a look at it or take it to the dealership?

 

how would I do that ? lol I'm n00b when it comes to cars

 

search for "air pocket coolant" this has been covered over and over and over again.

 

Purge your cooling system and you should be fine. Shame on that body shop for not doing this for you. It's amazing we've been takling about things like "air in the cooling system" for 3-4 years now. So simple to correct.

 

or if u arent mechanically inclinded.. take it to a dealership =)

 

I had this same problem on one of my old hondas and I replaced the rad cap and it stopped.

 

Is it possible that you are an idiot and cannot search for a problem that has been repeated for 3 years or more.

 

I had the exact same problem with my BMW. There was a small radiator leak right above thermostat, and every time I accelerated or made a turn, a little bit of the leaked hot radiator water would spill on or near the thermostat and the temp. gauge would spike, and then quickly go back to normal.

Bottom line: Check for a cooling system leak. Its probably a small leak if you hadn't noticed it by now. Your mechanic would use a pressure gauge to check for this.

 

Depending on how many miles are on your car, I vote air bubbles first and then thermostat second.

superchargedg: please get over yourself. This is a forum where people seek advice, not snide remarks. It's easy to get frustrated when sitting at a computer making 4,500 + posts like you do!!!

I agree that the search function should be used more, but hell, you can just add to your post count by complaining all of the time!

 

^^^ Chill dude....this has been discussed to death.