Hey guys, not sure if this has happened to anyone, and it may just mean that my car needs a major service, but here's the problem. When I'm stuck in stop and go traffic, or very slow moving traffic, the car begins to overheat. Usually just depressing the clutch to get the car rolling and then having to stop causes this. The needle hasn't hit the red marker yet, but it comes really really close, and I'm wondering what is causing this? Once I get moving, the temperature immediately comes back down to normal.

Is it the radiator that isn't working properly or maybe something else?

 

check your coolant system everywhere for a leak, my car did something similar for a two week period after warming up, gauge would spike, then go back down to normal... nothing i could find that was wrong tho and drove fine, not even coolant puddles after parking overnight

took it to the shop that had last worked on my radiator and they "tightened" everything up and ran a compression test, nothing showed up, and ever since my gauge hasnt gone above mid once, good luck

 

Its not your oil temp, its your water/radiator temp.

Check for any leaks from the radiator/hoses. Something similar happened to me and there was a pinhole leak in my upper radiator hose. Sprayed coolant to the underside of my hood and in my case it was pretty noticeable.

 

Alright cool. I'll try it out and see if that fixes it. Gonna make sure all the hoses are tightened and there aren't any holes in the hoses. Thanks

 

Could Also be a stuck thermostat that is not opening to allow hot coolant to flow into the radiator

 

Along with what everyone else has suggested, check your radiator and radiator fans too.

How old is your car/mileage?
If you're the original owner (your description says bugeye) running on original parts, your radiator fins might be clogged with sand/silt/dirt/debris, reducing its efficiency in stop-and-go traffic. Same idea for the fans, perhaps their efficiency has been reduced over time. Also, check the shrouds, make sure they're on tight.

good luck!