engine temp fluctuating

my car latley has been acting a bit weird the engine temp is rising under light load to above the 200 line just crusing then it will just suddenley drop backdown to just above the 150 line it used to jsut do that in the morning now it does it all the time and i have also noticed a strong coolent smell from the outside and the inside of my car w/ or w/o the heater on but no noticable loss of coolent i was thinking the thermostat was going bad
then i was thinking heater core or a long shot the water pump??
i dont know my car is a 93
with 61572 miles on it
and the oil is not diluted either if that helps any...

The easiest is to change the thermistat and then see what happens,Good Luck.

Also Sounds like an air pocket in your cooling system.
And it could be the thermostat going bad.

If your water pump was going you'll usualy see coolant leaking from the bottom weep hole.

Start with the easiest and cheapest first.

Change the thermostat and make sure to bleed the system. It sounds like the thermostat is sticking. Also make sure that the airflow through the radiator is good and if you had an airdam on the bottom of the car it needs to be in place.

Change the thermostat and make sure to bleed the system. It sounds like the thermostat is sticking. Also make sure that the airflow through the radiator is good and if you had an airdam on the bottom of the car it needs to be in place.


thank you all for your help
im gonna put a 185deg thermostat on it tuesday and see hat that does
and i sware i just put the air damn back on and it seems like that is when all the problems started :(

Sounds like you need to:

1. Replace T-stat. Not a hard job to do as it is just one bolt for the housing. Prepare to spill some coolant out of the top rad. hose though.

2. Get the system flushed. The coolant should be replaced every two years or if the motor is overheated at any point. A flush will help to get any air pockets/debris/globs of crap out of your system which immensely helps the heater core (and therefore the heater) and the general cooling power of the cooling system.

If neither of these will solve your problem, then look into the water pump (unless it is obviously leaking then go ahead and replace) and heater core. However you mentioned that you weren't losing coolant so I doubt either unless the leak is minute.

Alibi, i think we established that already :shakehead