Quote Originally Posted by userfriendly View Post
My car is experiencing high temp problems. Normal temp should be between 1/4 to 1/2 of the guage. Lately, it reaches around 5/8 or above 1/2. What I did the last 2 times the temp went up was to spray the radiator fins ( not top ) with water and the temp went back to normal.

Coolant is full and less than a year old, new radiator cap and new coolant sensor/thermoswitch. Both fans work. I think the thermostat works cause the upper radiator hose is hot.

Can this be due to a blocked radiator?

hi userfriendly!
pls.clarify if you have a higher than normal temp on the gauge or a real "overheating problem". Pls. take note that it's normal to register a higher temp.reading owing to the so called heat island effect aggravated by the summer season. In this case, no need to worry. The use of airconditioning during a hot day also puts an extra load to the engine, warming it up all the more. Overheating (pointer in the red marker) on the other hand, may be due to a lot of things: defective fan and/or auxiliary fan, defective thermostat, underspecs radiator cap, a blocked radiator, or a defective water pump. Based on your account, it looks like the radiator is the culprit. Cleaning the fins, you said, gave a temporay relief. The thermostat is definitely working as evidenced by a warm to touch upper hose. Unless you have a defective water pump that circulates cooled water through the engine, your radiator will be better off with reverse flushing...you can buy a radiator cleaning / flushing agent anywhere. Also, check if your fan still has a shroud on it as this definitely helps cool water passing through the fins..hope this helps.