- Overheating! Need Help -

[uproot]

Ok so my car ran fine in the cold weather... now it's gettin warmer outside and after drivin for 10-20 minutes, when i come to a stop it starts to overheat a little... then when i start to move again it'll go back down

i'm assuming that the fan probably isnt coming on.. but is there anything else i should check? And - if it is the fan - what could be a possible cause of it not coming on?....

i've been searchin all over the internet and on honda-tech... but figured i'd ask you guys maybe someone has some insight....

anyways let me know if you have some ideas :goodjob:

[Nemesis]

Hey man, I dont own a Honda, and im sure a lot of guys will probably give you better advice, but have you changed your coolant recently? I know on my Cougar, my OBDII diagnostics read my car running around 220degrees on a really hot day, which caused the ECU to pull timing automatically and the car to run poorly, but after a coolant flush in my garage, I ran consistent 190s across the board. The coolant was a light brown and smelled like shit before I flushed it.

[uproot]

but have you changed your coolant recently?

good idea... i need to do that as well

[TeeJay]

sounds like the thermostat mane. same thing happened to my integ and my moms galant, and both times it was the thermostat. its worth a try, since theyre only like 10 bucks from napa and theyre pretty easy to change.

[uproot]

sounds like the thermostat mane. same thing happened to my integ and my moms galant, and both times it was the thermostat. its worth a try, since theyre only like 10 bucks from napa and theyre pretty easy to change.

yeah that was really what i was thinkin.... i just didnt know if the thermostat switched the fan on/off or if there was a separate one... or if that even is the prob. :confused:

[TeeJay]

well if its warm out and your fans not comin on, that prolly is the reason its overheating. if thats the case it might just be the fan relay. or you can always wire up a switch to control the fan that way you can keep it on all the time. an ol buddy of mine did this with his turbo honda and it kept the motor a lot cooler.

[2.0civic]

well if its warm out and your fans not comin on, that prolly is the reason its overheating. if thats the case it might just be the fan relay. or you can always wire up a switch to control the fan that way you can keep it on all the time. an ol buddy of mine did this with his turbo honda and it kept the motor a lot cooler.

good idea to try man.

[chrisdavis]

yeah that was really what i was thinkin.... i just didnt know if the thermostat switched the fan on/off or if there was a separate one... or if that even is the prob. :confused:


The thermostat does not "switch" the fan on per-say as it holds coolant in the block till reaches a certain temp. It then opens up and allowss coolant to flow through the radiator. If it fails to open or partially opens, the car will overheat. The temp of the coolant is what turns the fan on or off. The easiest way to check the fan is to just run the car for a bit and pop the hood and see if it comes on.

[3kgtdrvr]

im definately goin with thermostat from what's written, and worse case scenario, u have a new thermostat and coolant which isnt a bad thing, but id say do that first

[Dirty Octopus™]

make sure you have enough coolant

[IntegraXTR]

do a full coolant flush, check your relay/fuses for the cooling fan, and last check your thermostat (if your thermostat is broken then you fan will not come on). If problem still consist then might have a blown headgasket.

[2.0civic]

do a full coolant flush, check your relay/fuses for the cooling fan, and last check your thermostat (if your thermostat is broken then you fan will not come on). If problem still consist then might have a blown headgasket.

what i was going to say.

[ALVIN]

same thing happened to me and it was the radiator fans. when i changed out my radiator i poured my own radiator fluid...thus creating an air pocket. The thermostat was reading this air pocket and wouldn't turn on the fan. This made my car overheat when at a dead stop. all i can tell you is that I took it to acura and got them to fix everything for like 200

[uproot]

do a full coolant flush, check your relay/fuses for the cooling fan, and last check your thermostat (if your thermostat is broken then you fan will not come on). If problem still consist then might have a blown headgasket.


i'm really hopin that my headgaskets not blown... but ill def. check the coolant/fuses/thermo... no time with work and school... i need a damn break... thanks for all the the info... everybody :goodjob:

[TeeJay]

is the coolant brownish?? if so, it might be the headgasket. means theres oil getting in the coolant

[uproot]

haven't even had a chance to check it to tell you the truth... i should have some time this weekend... bein off work and no classes... if it is the headgasket how much do those run... like $50 bucks?... i'm just hopin this isn't gonna be a costly fix

[3kgtdrvr]

coolant will go into the oil more than oil in the coolant bc the coolant is under higher pressure so if u take off the oil cap and its like foamy like milk shake like itll be a blown head gasket bc the coolant is leaking in. I dont wanna get ur hopes up, but i wouldn't just to jump conclusions as to say its a head gasket, thats kinda a worst case scenerio, it could very easily be a thermostat. thats what it sounds like to me persoanlly. If it is a headgasket, lets just say its gonna be more than $50! u gotta take the head off, possibly do machine work, O2 sensors might need to be replaced bc coolant kills O2 sensors, lots of stuff. I say just check under the oil cap first and look for foamy junk.

[uproot]

well if thats the case... under the oil cap is pretty freakin clean

[3kgtdrvr]

yeah, its prob just a thermostat and some new coolant. i really think thats what it is from what i read. but thats just my :2cents:

[uproot]

yeah, its prob just a thermostat and some new coolant. i really think thats what it is from what i read. but thats just my :2cents:

cool man... thanks for tha :2cents:

[3kgtdrvr]

dont blame me if im wrong and ur engine blows though :D

[uproot]

dont blame me if im wrong and ur engine blows though :D

yeah.. you'll be the first person i'll look for lol :D


its not really overheatin the the point where it'll blow tho i dont think... just a little above normal operating temp. and then when i start movin again it goes back down...

[Romeyo07]

sounds like your fans aren't turning on. If it doesn't overheat any other time and it's only slightly warmer than usual, that rules out anything else. If it were something else, the temperature would continue to climb.

Check the relays, switches, etc. I put a jumper on my old talon to turn on the fans when the ignition was on. Not sure if that's the case with hondas since my teg didn't do that. I just replaced the fan cause it went out.