my 93 prelude 4ws idles hot, when i drive its temp is normal but when i stop moving and let the car idle the temp gauge moves up to the third bar, and it even got all the way up to full bars but i shut it off right away so nothing happened to the engine it was only on full bars for like 2 seconds, does anyone know whats wrong, i just got the prelude and its leaking oil (just checked it and it has enough oil its right in the middle) can someone help me, i dont have much money and cant afford to take it to a mechanic to have him fix it, id rather fix it myself and save a bunch of money plus i can make sure its done right, because half the mechanics today would probably be better off working on lawnmowers. i doubt its the thermastat because it would always be hot not just when its idleing. so if anyone has any ideas im open for them.

Sounds like it's related to airflow through the rad with car speed, or coolant flow through the rad with engine speed...I'd start with the latter. Does the temp go up if you hold the throttle open even while stopped? Does the fan go on?

It could be the thermostat partially stuck closed, so while the coolant going through the rad while moving provides enough cooling, not enough is going through at a stop. Could be a blocked radiator passage as well (not as bad as it sounds, since rads are cheap and easy to replace). Could be a blocked internal passage or a bad water pump -- those are harder to fix. I'd start with the thermostat.

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Jamie
'92 Prelude Si, '01 Miata, '63 Suburban
Caretaker of Alpina B10 3.5 #92
35 years continuous years with Preludes
Speed Demon Racing
Jamie on LinkedIn

thank you, does anyone else have any ideas so i can check everything since its going to be apart and down for a day since i dont have alot of time to work on it, and if its not what jaime told me, my lude doesnt have to be down for 2 days : ( because what jaime said MIGHTbe wrong, thanks for your advice jaime

Always possible...fixing cars online is a crap shoot. Your hands don't get as greasy, though. :)

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Jamie
'92 Prelude Si, '01 Miata, '63 Suburban
Caretaker of Alpina B10 3.5 #92
35 years continuous years with Preludes
Speed Demon Racing
Jamie on LinkedIn

yea i know, i had a idle problem, and someone told me i need to take apart my throttle body and clean it so i took it apart and cleaned it and my car was down for a day so i had to walk to school -.-, come home finish putting the throttle body back in and it still idles weird, then someone said its my distributor so i took that all apart only to find out there was nothing wrong with it and my lude was down for another day and had to walk to school again, come home and put it all back together, and someone told me it was my fast idle thermal valve, and i fixed that and that WAS the problem lol, im kinda new to fixing cars, so i cant really diagnose things good, unless it already happened to me lol.