Dr. Will Race

So most of the time my car drives near the cold end of the temp. gauge (on the solid line). I was wondering what I need to fix to correct this issue and bring it up to normal operating temperature. There is no CEL and the gauge is not broken. Any ideas?

adamrich33

tstat stuck open? and how did you test the gauge or sensor?

OMGRHD

I see a lot of Hondas/Acuras with stuck thermostats. Do your car a favor and go to the acura dealer and buy an oem one. I think I paid $40 for mine. They are more expensive but they are built so much better. Also get the oem gasket too.

adamrich33

do what you want, but the $14 dollar ones from auto zone work great.

dc2LS

need a new thermostat yea i agree autozone ones work great

teg_racer

mine does the same thing. bought a new oem thermostat. didnt change anything dunno if somethings not working or if the water wetter product and a fluidyne radiator keeps it that cold

OMGRHD

I am in no way saying aftermarket thermostats don't work. They do. But from my experience they don't last as long. If you take the oem thermostat in one hand and the autozone in the other you will see the difference. The Honda one weighs much more and is built to last. I have seen aftermarket ones fail in as little as a few months or last the life of the car. I would just rather spend the $40 and feel a little more confident that it's good for a long time to come. I believe there are certain parts that should be oem or equivelant quality. This is one of them.

By all means go for the $14 one. I'm sure it will work. But when you really think about, we are working on Honda's, not Hyundai's.

danielblushtein

^^^ yep mine was stuck closed and that fixed my problem

Dr. Will Race

Thanks fellas, ill be picking one up from acura soon. OEM FTW.

TheAsian

Why don't you just pop it out and check it before you go spending money on a theromostat. If its cold and open its bad. If not toss it in a pot of water with a thermomiter and heat the water and see what temp the thermostat opens. Should fully open between 180 and 190

Spawne32

iTrader: (3)

ive had nothing but bad experiences with stant products at the local parts store, gates and oem ftmfw tho

danielblushtein

why the heck go thru all the hassle of taking the thermostat out and have to bleed the coolant system since you spill coolant? Toss in a new thermostat and call it a day.

Dr. Will Race

Well I replaced it with a new thermostat and its still not heating, it actually got cooler (according to temp gauge). Can it be the engine temp. sensor? But its not throwing any codes, so I'm confused.

vtecdc4

i hear that oem tstats are most likely to stay open when they go out. autozone sounds bad to me.
you get what you pay for

dntnedvtec

Tell you what. YOu might as well buy three from auto zone. Your lucky if you get a good one. I learned the hard way( Tstat stayed close, over heated, warped the head). Spend the money, and buy an OEM one.

Drive 4 fun

Check the coolant temperature, hot. Noncontact thermometer to shot hose temp, or stick an appropriate thermometer in the coolant. Sensors can go bad, as can any component.

taiwandiao

Just got my car back from the mechanic today after an exhaust list of maintenance parts. He changed out the thermostat as it was stuck open, and replaced it with an OEM thermostat. But, I still notice my temp gauge was still not in the "normal" range and was leaning about 1/4 towards the low end. (I'll try to take a photo of it tomorrow).

Are there other places to check for this issue?

fcm

I would be testing the engine coolant temp. to see what it actually is, as has been mentioned ECTS. [sensor] or temp. gauge can be bad.

If the thermostat is working it makes no difference what rad you have or if you use water wetter or not, and rad fan could be running full time, engine coolant will reach operating temperature.

Although I agree that OEM Honda parts are well made, they are also overpriced, more then 100% mark-up, I installed a $10 Nappa thermostat in my 94 Integra more then 7 years ago, still working fine, if I have to replace the Nappa one every 7-8 years, I'm OK with that. 94

Dr. Will Race

You don't get a CEL for a bad ECTS. Can anyone confirm this?

Spawne32

iTrader: (3)

depends on the obd version type i believe, OBD2 i believe there is a fault code for ECT

taiwandiao

Ok, so this is what it looks like after a new oem tstat. It use to go much lower before, and after a new tstat, it's still not quite 'normal temp'? Please keep in mind, this is what the gauge looks like after 45min in So.Cal traffic.

truckboy

If the crank sensor is going bad it can cause a no start when hot condition. You would need a scan tool to make sure that was the problem You could buy one and put it in to see if is solves your problem The part number is 21020140 it costs about $25 US.

The Crankshaft Position Sensor (CKP) is located on the back of the engine block, below intake manifold. See picture below

Drive 4 fun

Once again, unless I missed it, actual temperature???

Spawne32

iTrader: (3)

you need to compare the actual coolant temp vs what the coolant temp sending unit is saying, thats what will tell the gauge to display that. Normal tstats are 180 degrees, looks like your at about where 170 degrees would be if im not mistaken.

Dr. Will Race

Hmm this might be it. I also have a leak underneath the manifold which I looked and saw that it was coming from a hose. And after I start the car when it already has been turned on and then turned off, it idles low and sounds like it wants to turn off.