This can't be right! After driving in traffic ~30 mins or so, my thermostat is almost at the top! My '05 6MT sedan has about 49K miles on it. Yeah, it's hot down here in Atlanta (95 or so today), but I know these cars are tested in 115+ degree deserts to run at normal temps. Any idea what my problem could be? Otherwise, the car seems to run just fine. I'm past my b-2-b warranty but still under powertrain - would this be covered if its a major issue?

I attached a crappy cellphone pic that I took of my temp gauge this afternoon.

 

You need to address this problem tomorrow morning. That temp is definitely way too high, and it really doesn't have much to do with the outside temperature. You might be low on coolant, which you can check in the morning. It could also be a stuck thermostat or a water pump that's failing, but I'd put my money on the pump. Thermostats usually fail in an open state, not closed. You'd end up with a low temp reading because the engine would be contantly getting cooled.

A high temp is just about the single worst thing that can happen to an engine. You're safe enough to drive it to a dealer, but if it hits the H or above, stop the car immediately. DO NOT CONTINUE DRIVING IT !!! And do not delay getting this taken care of. When I say tomorrow morning, I mean start the car and drive it to a dealer.

And yes, this should be covered under the power train. Basically anything that's attached to the engine and is directly related to engine function is covered.

 

check coolant levels and water pump.
also check the oil level???
but id say its the pump.

 

I've hit the big time, quoted in a sig!! Thanks man.

+1 on getting it to the dealer today. We hit a record high yesterday, 103, and I drove over 100 miles almost all city miles including rush hour. My temp gauge never even crossed the halfway mark.

 

Ok, I checked the coolant - I am a little embarrassed that I didn't check before posting last night but I was pretty concerned and it was late. Anyhow, I can see coolant at the bottom of the resevoir but it's not up to the MAX level marked on the reservoir. Should I go ahead and fill it up to MAX? Should I use water, coolant or a mix? I checked this morning after the car had been sitting overnight.

FWIW, the temp gauge stays right in the middle 90% of the time - it never goes past the middle during my short commute(2 miles each way), it shoots up only when I end up stuck in city traffic on a 20-30 minute+ drive on a hot day.

 

you need to fill the coolant; jsut buy the premixed.

 

I'll bet it's a bad thermostat...

 

If your coolant is low, I would guess that there is a possible small leak issue. I didnt know it, but I was leaking a small amount of coolant from the radiator (between the tanks and the fins are rubber gaskets that had gone bad). It was introducing air into the system periodically. I also found that there was A TON of crap wedged between the radiator and the AC condenser.

GL with the troubleshoot. T-Stat is easy to change out, but at <50K miles I doubt that is your issue

 

Are you looking at the overflow resavoir or did you actually look in the radiator? I didn't know that there were upper and lower marks inside the radiator.

 

As you can guess, I'm no mechanic. I was looking in the plastic resevoir on the right front side next to the wiper fluid resevoir. I wasn't looking into the radiator itself.

 

That's what I thought. Take the radiator cap off and look inside. You may have a leaky radiator

 

I will take a look tonight. How full should the radiator be? Do I add fluid to the radiator itself, or into that overflow resevoir?

 

The level should be up to the bottom of the filler neck. Be careful if the engine is hot. There will be pressure in the radiator if it's hot. Fill with 50/50 mix of antifreeze/water or buy the premixed kind.
Also if the cap is bad it could allow coolant to spray out when the engine heats up.

 

Thanks, I will try that tonight. I certainly hope its just low coolant because I'd prefer to avoid a trip to the dealer. If it is a leak, it's a slow one because I've never noticed any coolant (or anything else) leaking from the car.

 

Check the coolant return hose. It is the rubber hose next to the radiator filler cap that runs between the radiator and the engine.
The hose could be collapsed due to a bad radiator cap. Search on it, there was a thread on this. There was some orange color gunk built inside the cap that prevent the check valve from moving freely. All I did was clean it and it was fixed.
The cap was recommended to be replaced at every coolant change interval.