96 Civic EX Overheating

Hi,
I have a 96 Civic EX that overheats when idle on the road. The temperature gauge will rise when stopping on red light but slowly goes down when the car is running again.

Does anybody know what's causing this?

Thanks.

Is the fan comming on @ all?

alfonso2501,

thanks for replying. the fan is running. ac is running also although at one point the ac is not cold. after restarting the ac, the cool air starts coming out again.

OK then, it’s a 96’, do you know when was the last time the coolant was changed out? You might want to change that thermostat out too, unless it's new.

Thanks,

I have added extra coolant into it, it was running low. I'm going to take it to a shop to have it flushed too.

Does 96 have common issues?

Not that I know of. Have the thermostat replaced if you know it never was replaced. Next time it over heats squeeze both the top & bottom radiator hose. If the bottom one is full & hot as hell, while the top one feels empty & not hot @ all it’s your water pump. But I doubt that’s the problem.

u can check if ur thermostate is closing or opening. warm the car up and touch the upper and lower(the one after the thermostate) radiator hose. if the lower one is cold then ur thermostate isnt opening then that means u need to get a new one. their not expensive. i wouldnt be suprise if that was it. o and u dont need to get ur coolant flushed out. ive had the same one for 10 years and never had a problem. but if u really want to change it just drain it from the radiator and that should get most of it out. u dont need to get it flushed completely

I changed the radiator and upper hose to fix this problem. Had the thermostat changed also even though it wasn't the problem. Luckily, I found a good mechanic with very reasonable price to help me do this.

Thanks, all.