hey guys i hope you can clear this up a bit for me... im trying to pin down what is wrong

92 max gxe

the coolant level is good and doesnt leak any

my car's temp gauge always stays at the halfway point once ive warmed the engine up. it stays at that position no matter what afterwards. this makes me suspicious that something isnt right...

i also noticed that i havent seen my radiator fans turn on recently.

the upper radiator hose was warm after i had driven on the freeway for about 15 mins... so i believe the thermostat isnt blocked

i read up in the haynes manual... i tried squeezing the upper radiator hose to see if there's any flow resistance from the water pump... but i didnt notice any. should it be very noticeable? and is the water pump always on?

are these symptoms that point to a water pump gone bad? temp sensor?

any suggestions appreciated

 

your engine's normal temp should be near or around the mid point.. if it moves up then your having problems if its moving below that point when your driving.. then it must be REALLY COLD outside for it to do that..

other than that.. if your water pump stop working.. your car would be over heating

 

Tilt: You have just described the operation of my 90GXE (duh), and I have all new parts in the cooling system including the radiator. So I believe that you are OK. As mykizism says - if you notice nothing obviously different, then you are OK. BTW, the water pump is always circulating water through the engine unless the impeller is rusted off, and that is VERY rare. The thermostat only opens once the engine gets up to operating temp., and if the radiator water is very cold, small amounts will be allowed into the engine to cool it - the thermostat regulating the amount based upon the output temp of the water from the engine. If the thermostat is doing its job well, then the temp gauge will be positioned in one spot. If the thermostat is sticking, then you may see the temp gauge hunt a bit until the excess heating or cooling overcomes the stickiness of the t-stat.

 

thanks guys, this clears things up a lot.

I guess it's because i've been in a couple of friends' cars and their gauges were never consistent as my gauge is, so I thought that was the norm.

 

what kind of cars did they have?? all the cars ive been in.. or owned never did that

 

come to think of it they were both chevys... 95 corsica, 86? cavalier