So my front passenger CV boot pretty much isn't there (can't replace CV until this weekend) and a while back the brat started to overheat at idle, popped the hood and saw that CV grease was leaking on to the catalytic converter and burning off creating a truly wonderful smell... Anyways lately It has been running pretty hot when I'm stopped in traffic, not sure how much grease still leaks onto the cat (I can smell it sometimes) but there is definitely a lot of build up on the top of it. Am I safe in assuming that the reason it slowly overheats while I'm stopped is because of this? It cools down as soon as I get moving. Thanks

The grease on your cat is probably not causing this problem. Sounds more like your engine fan/s arent coming on. First step is to verify if the fan is coming on when it heats up. How hot are we talking? The gauges in these cars are terrible. If you had a 180 degree thermostat, the car may usually run at 1/3 and it climb just over 1/2 while sitting in summer traffic. Then the fan comes on at 205 degrees. It looks like alot on the gauge and its not really a big deal. If the fan cannot keep up with the demand or its not coming on at all you do have a problem.

Cooling system problem has nothing to do with grease burning off of the cat.

Cooling system problem has nothing to do with grease burning off of the cat.

If your cat was at that point of making it overheat, you would experience stalling and major loss of power. Check for pin hole leaks in hoses....

I would definitely check that your fan is working properly and also check your radiator fluid level and if there's leaves/bags blocking aif flow.

From what you said it heats up at a stop sounds like the fan.

Well my fans are definitely working properly, and there's plenty of coolant, I flushed the coolant and replaced thermostat about 500 miles ago, guess I'll try to burp the cooling system and go from there. Damn I was really hoping to replace the CV and be done with it.

Re read my first post. Is the car actually overheating?

temp guage normally sits at halfway at operating temp. In heavy traffic it slowly rises to 3/4 of the way to the red zone. I always just cut the vehicle off until the light changes when it starts to happen so I'm not sure if it will actually make it to the red zone, though it seems to me that it would. I'm hesitant to check. never happened last summer, never happened before the day that CV grease was thrown around (maybe just a coincidence). First time it happened was actually on a pretty cool night. Also, I just noticed that O2 sensor is completely covered in grease, not sure if that's relevant.

i probably should have specified that in the original post, oops.

Does the fan cycle or run non stop when it gets hot? Do you have access to a laser thermometer? This is a common complaint and often the car isnt actually overheating.

Fan runs nonstop when its hot in traffic, I'll have to check tomorrow if it cycles normally just sitting in my driveway. I don't have a laser thermometer but it would probably be a good investment, where would I check the temp and what should it be?

Grease is not the problem.

If the coolant system has a recovery tank, there should not be any air in the coolant system after a few drive cycles.

Check the radiator. Are the little thin fins still attached to the tubes that the coolant flows through?

The radiator looks really good. It has no reserve coolant tank. I'm running it in my driveway and I can't get it to heat up like it does in traffic, it sits just a bit over halfway. I'm thinking my water pump impeller might be wearing out because it cools down when I rev it up.