Ok so i just noticed my temp gauge rises when stopped. Not in idle, meaning if the wheels are moving and in neutral, the temp is fine. As soon as i stop the gauge almost peaks and then drops back down to normal. Coolant levels are fine, i checked it. Everything else about the ride is fine, oil temp, boost, idling RPM etc. Is my water pump going out?

 

Sounds like the fan is not working

 

^ This. Check your fan.

 

Ok update. It is Really acting weird now. When the air is on in the car, the temp goes up. When the actual AC is on, it goes past the H mark. It also started bucking. I had to pull over and wait a minute. WTF is going on? If I turn the air/ac off the temp is fine and no bucking. It sounds like a mix of a vac leak and a failed water pump. It never did this before. Also, right before this happened it fried my radar detector. Is this unrelated?

 

You need to stop driving your car if it is overheating and take it to a garage. It is prob too late since you prob already blew it up. Most likely you warped the head. If the temp needle moves AT ALL above the reg spot it is BAD. Unless you are in danger you stop driving immediately.

 

Can you hear your fans running?

 

May want to stop driving it at this point. Take to a shop.

 

Update: it stays cool when driving, heats up when stopped. Radiator fan is indeed working. The car cools down and heats up and back again when sitting. Turning the ac on or off has no bearing on what it's doing. This is either a thermostat issue or a bad water pump.

 

Yes stopped driving it. Gonna have it towed.

 

Ok i attached a vid i took of the radiator. The coolant sits at the rim until the fan turns on. Then it goes down and starts flowing across the top of the core. It seems a bit weak though, last time i peered into a radiator it was flowing like niagra falls. Is this how it is supposed to look? I am trying to narrow it down to either a thermostat or the pump. I cant hear any metal clanking near the pump, but that doesn't mean it hasn't failed. Where is the thermostat? I couldn't see it easily on the radiator.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZpzDtK8a4o

 

I just took the thermostat out and drove it around. It drove at a cooler operating temp. Slightly lower. I parked it at autozone and waited. It heated up a bit and i turned it off. One thing i noticed is that the temp gauge ONLY goes up when the rad fan turns on. I mean the very instant the fan turns on, the temp needle moves. Otherwise it doesnt move above op temp at all. If i turn the car off when the fan is on and turn it right back on, the needle pops back to normal temp as if it never heated up. Maybe the sensor is going bad?

 

maybe your head gasket is blown.

 

No indication of this. Oil looks clean. Idles fine. No leaks or smoke. Think thats all the signs. Im going to swap the temp sensor out next.

 

Have u pressure tested your radiator. Manual allows 23psi/160 kpa of pressure to cooling system. That will pin point leaks.

It still could be your headgasket. It typically doesn't require oil mix with coolant.

Water pump is looking like my choice of the fault point.

 

Update:

I thought it was fishy that my gauge was only rising when the radiator fan turned on, so i tested it. I unplugged the radiator fan fuse when it kicked on. I waited a bit before i unplugged it to ensure the gauge was acting funky still, and it was. So i let it rise a bit and then unplugged the fan. Bam, what do you know, the gauge goes back to normal.

OK so now that i have it narrowed down, what the hell is the actual problem? Ive never seen this before. The radiator fan itself is causing the temp gauge to act funny. Anyone offer any assistance?