I have a 93 SE with the 2.2 and automatic tranny. I have noticed that when I'm cruising at highway speeds, the engine runs hot. Driving around town, the needle is where it should be. I realize that factory guages aren't that reliable, but I can tell something isn't right. Once I get off the interstate, it gets even hotter. It doesn't get to the redline, but it's close. I topped off the cooling system and bled it. I don't think it's the thermostat or it would do it driving around town too. Any ideas? The car has 202,000 miles on it. Could it be something more serious like a head gasket? Thanks!
Matt

 

Are you losing coolant after you top it off? A bad head gasket would cause some other problems other than engine running hot.

My first thought would be the cheapest, drain the radiator and flush the system, replace thermostat, and put new coolant in there.

When was the timing belt/water pump replaced?

 

I have no idea when the water pump was replaced. Don't know about the timing belt either. Could a timing belt have something to do with it? When I topped it off, it took about two cups of fluid at the most. It's not losing any fluid. The radiator looks clean and so does the fluid. I'll flush it anyways and replace the fluid and T-stat. Any other ideas if that doesn't work?

 

chk the rad cap. .. do a leakage test to chk for a blown head gasket,, also it might be a partially plugged radiator ..

 

Please do not trust your highway vs city driving scenarios causing overheating, it could still be many items that will cause any number of overheating problems. It just takes some patience, I like to monitor the two radiator hoses starting with a cold engine till the fans come on and off a couple of times, this may take an hour.

I know you have a good understanding of how the system works so monitoring should work good for you. Then you can rev up the engine via the throttle cable to do additional testing in the driveway if needed, use a rag, it going to be hot in there.

Only use and OEM tstat.