I got an 2008 3g acura tl (AT). 3 days ago, i was driving regularly to go buy some groceries and i glanced over at my dash and i noticed that my temperature gauge said my car heated up more than normal. I figured that it could of been radiator coolant so I pored in some since it was low. I was driving home eyeballing my temperature gauge and I noticed it was 4 ticks away from hitting the red top. I stopped my car and I shut it off to a parking lot bc i got scared. Both of my fans were spinning but it only kicked in hard when it was super hot. So I was questioning what could of been causing my engine to heat up so much. I have already changed my water pump like 4-7k miles ago and my thermostat like 3 months ago. Me and my father have been concluding it could be the radiator fan but we are no car expert. So I came here just hopefully anyone could know whats causing it.



Also my car engine only heats up when im at a red light, but it cools down when im driving

 

"Also my car engine only heats up when im at a red light, but it cools down when im driving"

This could be a number of things but I would start with the simple things since the cooling system isn't complicated on the J Series motors. Did you check for air in the system? i.e. let the car cool off to stone cold, remove the radiator cap and then start the car till warm. I believe the procedure for the 3G is like this but it was a number of years ago I bled mine.

If that checks out you will want to look for proper fan operation, if you said it was spinning at high speed I doubt it, let it get up to operating temperature turn the AC on to max, do both fans spin? if not start there as they should be, if they do I would question age and potential blockage in the radiator since you said it cools down as you drive which is when it forces more air over the cooling vanes.

Are you running mixed or universal coolant's or just the OEM honda blue coolant? Any non OEM honda coolants are known to cause gelling and blockages in honda motors.

 

1.) Coolant Level
2.) Failing Fans
3.) Clogged Radiator
4.) Stuck Thermostat
5.) Failing Water Pump

Roughly the order I would guess to be the most likely culprits. The fact that once it gets moving things cool off makes me think low coolant or failing fans.

 

^^^^This 100%