My RX8 is over heating. it gets hot and cold sporadically.
the temperature needle goes from Middle to Hot, at different times.
Also when i'm driving usually at 60ish the needle stays in the cooler area.

My queston is, this the Thermostat, or the water pump or something else?


Thanks

 

Any help would be appreciated?
Not sure if it's the water pump, or the thermostat.

 

First thing to check is the thermostat, they do go bad. the fact that yours has lasted 121k miles (I think that is what you mean here ) means it has probably outlived its time, especially after years of Texas weather. Also that is the cheapest to replace here. If that doesn't do it then start checking the rest of your cooling system. You could have a damaged or clogged radiator. Let us know what you find and I am sure posters here will have other good advice for you.

 

When specifically does it get hot? Sitting in traffic or sitting at idle?

If that's the case, and since you don't have the problem at 60mph, I'm leaning towards the electric cooling fan not coming on. Or that the radiator is dirty enough where a 60mph wind will cool the fins, but an electric fan cannot.

 

It gets hot idling, and when driving.
sometimes it will be in the cool area, then goes to the hot area, it fluctuates.
Also the air gets cold and hot sometimes. and i can smell the antifreeze getting hot.

 

So, it's just totally random where the needle will be on the gauge?

And what "air gets cold and hot sometimes"? The air from the vents? If so, how does this correlate to the setting on the heater controls and the engine temperature?

Have you done any diagnostics at all, such as checking the coolant level, or looking for any leaks? If you smell antifreeze, then it isn't being contained in the closed system. Whether that's because of a leak, or it overflowing from being hot, is another question.

Try and be more specific when describing the symptoms. It's very difficult to try and diagnose cars over the intarweb... Significantly more, when the only information at hand is so vague.

 

The engine temperature needle fluctuates, alot, but mostly in the middle and hot area.

The Air from the Airconditioning gets hot, and fluctuates as well.
the coolant level is fine, there are no leaks.

 

Could be fan...........with car off, try and spin them by hand and see if they move freely.
Then you can start it and see if the fans eventually come on.
FYI.............running the car in the hot zone is very, very bad. Get this fixed right away and let's hope it's not too late.
Do not drive the car in this condition and when you do the fan check, if the needle goes beyond midway(which will happen fast), shut it off immediately.

It could also be anything that was already described, your just going to have to do some investigation.

If both fans operate, then my next guess.....and it's a guess is that it is the thermostat.

Just for grins.................do you have a check engine light on? If so, try to get the code read, but do not go far at all to have it read, and it would be better if you took another car and went and bought a scanner!!!!

 

No CEL, i had the fans checked, and the fans are ok,
only thing left to check would be the thermostat. i hope.

 

in another thread just a couple of days ago another owner had a similar problem, and it was the thermostat, and when checked by the dealer they also discovered a small leak, and the escaping hot coolant was evaporating, so no leak on the garage floor. Not saying that is what is your problem, but it could be that thermostat as stated before.

 

+1

It might have been this thread
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/07-automatic-overheating-220260/

There is tonnes of things to check when you car starts overheating.

It really depends on how much hands on work you like to do vs. taking it to the garage and paying for it.

Check those fans as well ...

Just a side note on the T-Stat .. it's cheap part but a PITA to replace ...
The alternator bracket needs to come off all with a bunch of other stuff