I recently have seen my car running hot/thermostat going all the way up to Hot and above the line while idling, whether in traffic, stopped, or even in a drive through at a resturant. Anyone else deal with this? I have a 03 TL-S

 

Your car is obvoisly overheating. And get it to the dealer asap. Prolly the radiator.

 

what would I be looking like price wise for a radiator

 

That thingey that you you can see on the dash is the temp gauge. The thermostat is a mechanism fitted to the engine.That mechanism could be your problem.

 

Try this!
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ght=thermostat

 

when your car starts to over heat, turn your heater all the way up and roll down your windows (not required, but 98% of the time prefered). This will sometimes help cool your car down and help prevent any damage.

 

thanks

 

does it only overheat when you are stopped or in stop and go traffic? Is the temp gauge reading normal when you are driving at regular speeds?

 

If your needle has gone above the line like you said, you may have already caused severe damage. When your car starts to overheat even a little STOP driving the car.

With a cold engine look to see how much coolant you have (ie are you low)
Also does your radiator fan run when the motor is warm?

 

it only overheats when im stopped or in traffic. normal driving and normal speeds its regular

 

I checked, the coolant is about halfway full. the fan comes on when i cut the car off and the motor is warm.

 

Did you fill the coolant back up? Are you leaking any where? Coolant doesnt get used up. If its low there is a leak or you have a blown head gasket and its going into the motor. (which if it has gone above the line like you said it may be the later) which is bad.

 

didnt fill it up, was going too today

 

Do what everyone else said, but it could also just be your themostat sticking. My car started to heat up more than normal, not to the hot line, but it was on its way and everything else was good including coolant level, which is different than you. So I shut the car off let it sit for a little while started it back up and it has been fine ever since. One of these days I will replace the thermostat, I have 102,500 miles on the car, it could use it.