Temp. Guage going up/down erratically

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RFHOMI2U

Senior Member
Ok, I have this little problem in my CRX. It's an 88 CRX Si (stock Si Motor), yet i am having a problem with the stock temp guage. The car will be fine until after about 10 minutes of driving. Then the temp guage will go all the way up to hot. And then very quickly it will drop all the way down to the normal temp. (just below half way). Then it will go just below the red mark and stay there. This all happens when I all of a sudden get the faint smell of coolant. It's weird. It is full with coolant and water and has a brand new thermostat. (OEM replacement, opens at 185). Under the hood after driving, the upper radiator hose seems to be pressurized a little more than normal, and there is a little bit of coolant sitting on the radiator fan as well as the radiator. i can't hear any leaks, and cannot find any leaks. Any suggestions? any ideas what may be wrong? What should I try next to fix this problem?
 
Replace the hose... but that's not your problem. Most likely it's your temperature sensor on the side of the block. My CRX did the same thing as yours (temp gauge), so I replaced the sensors and it was cured.
 
yeah, probably a bad temp sender. You have at least one switch, a sensor, and a sender. The sender does nothing but send a signal to your dash. Its the little guy on the side of your head, probably just below your distributor. Might be a bad connection. I'd just get one from a junkyard.
 
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