Running warmer than usual
 

Here we go. My 04 5-speed lvl2 is running a little warmer than usual. I've talked to my dad, he's been a mechanic for many years and he suggests the thermostat. The fans kick on and cool it down at idle, but while driving around town, the engine runs slightly above the middle tickmark on the temp gauge. Before I had to have the radiator replaced, (my mistake caused that. will explain if necessary.) it ran about three-quarters above the second mark. It runs fine when it's cold outside, of course. I'm just wanting other opinions or suggestions and history of this happening to other Ion owners, if the latter is even possible. Running great otherwise! Thanks for viewing and thinking about replying.

You say you had the radiator replaced -- I hope that it is an OEM replacement, and not a 'Ye Olde Radiator Shoppe and Crab Shack' special buy. Since the fans appear to operate properly, I too would suspect a failing thermostat. Oh, final thought, has the cooling system been cleaned and flushed lately ???

When the shop replaced the radiator, which I'm assuming is OEM as it's brand new, they did a full flush and fill. Kinda had to, as I lost all the fluid on the way to the shop...thanks for the opinion though. I will look into checking the thermostat for fault here shortly.