that sounds about right. it shouldn't go above halfway

 

Thanks guys much appreciated! I feel a lot better now knowing that's ok. For some reason I have it programmed in my head that the temp gauge should never get any hotter than 40%. I need to deal with it lol.

 

Well it's doing it again...cooling fan will not engage while engine in running causing it to overheat. I didn't want to think of it to much but when I was burping the cooling system of air last week little bubbles never stopped coming out of the radiator. I eventually just capped it off after the car was at operating temperature. Is a compression test or leak down test better for finding a head gasket issue? I don't know the differences between the two.

 

I vote for leakdown test.

Compression test uses a pressure gauge stuck into the sparkplug hole. You crank the engine with the starter and see what the pressure reaches.

A simplified version of a leakdown test can go like this... Get a fitting for a compressed-air hose, that fits into the sparkplug hole. Rotate the engine so that cylinder is TDC of the compression stroke. THIS IS IMPORTANT - LOCK THE CRANKSHAFT so it won't spin on you when you pressurize it. With compressed air, you look & listen for WHERE the air is leaking.
- into the crankcase means rings are leaking (a bit of this is sorta normal)
- into the intake manifold or exhaust manifold means the valves are leaking
- into the water jacket means the headgasket is leaking (or cracked block)

A proper leakdown test can measure the actual flow rate, but you don't really need that to diagnose a leaking headgasket.

 

Head gasket going bad. Confirmed by a Honda specialized mechanic.

 

That sucks......So what are your plans?