zorobabel

Hi everyone,
I am curious if this is what the gauge indicates for others.
For my Accord SE the temp gauge sits halfway between the middle line and the lower line (the one above the cold blue section) once the engine is warm. Where does it sit for you?

I bought this car at 247k - 6 months ago. As with other cars, I expect the temp gauge to sit halfway when warmed up, but maybe this is an Accord thing.
I suspected it ran cold because of a wrong temp thermostat. I changed the thermostat with a 195F Stant Superstat this Monday, but after all the work... nothing's changed. The fan(s) do come on occasionally when idling or after the engine is turned off, so I'm thinking it's the temp gauge or sensor, or it's just how it's supposed to be for Accords. I don't have a thermometer...
Thanks!

nus_dogg

Mine sits a tad lower under the middle line for normal operating temp. Could be a bad ECT.

zorobabel

Thanks!

jewelz97

My gauge sits in the exact same spot as yours (between cool and middle line). I bought my 97 accord with 185,000 miles on it. It only moves up to the middle when it's really hot outside and I have the ac on.

motegicivic

Just to double check about 1/4 to 1/3 from the bottom? Never hits 1/2 right?

If so you are fine, better to below the 1/2 mark.

My civic is just about 1/2 up, but don't forget sometimes the gauges are a little different in the same model car. The honda owners manual says just about 1/2 way up is normal in most cases.

P_Adams

You ever wonder why they took the calibration off both the temp (and in earlier incantations volt) gauge? To avoid questions just like this !
It isn't so much where it always sits, but rather the deviation from that "normal" position is what it's ment to indicate.

zorobabel

Thanks guys!
@motegicivic - It sits right in the middle between the lower and the middle mark- 25% if you don't count what's bellow the lower mark.

I've only seen it get above that once for a few seconds with the old thermostat, maybe it was lazy to open that time. I think I see a 180 stamped on the old thermostat; with the new 195F thermostat the fans now alwasy come on at idle and after turning the engine off.
Hopefully mpg will get better...
I won't worry about this one for now, time to start thinking about a valve adjustment, new VC gasket, lower balljoints, and replacing a cracked powersteering boot.

zorobabel

Just an update:
As I hoped my CEL P0420 hasn't come back since I replaced the 180F thermostat with the correct 195F one. It's been about 1000 miles since the replacement. MPG is about the same. The coolant temp indicator is at times higher than 25% - about 30% but only for short periods of time.

motegicivic

Good to hear you put in the proper temp thermostat, the car needs to run at a certain temp to run right, important for running too rich or too lean etc.