2001 Acura 1.7 EL Overheating Issue
05-22-2013, 07:35 AM
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2001 Acura 1.7 EL Overheating Issue
First and foremost I am aware I am posting this problem on Civic forums because this car
(Canadian exclusive) is identical to a Civic. It uses the D17A2 1.7 L engine and all internals
are same. The only difference is the body panels. So you can treat it same as a civic.
With that out of the way the car has 270k+ km on it and it has been driving solid. I am an I.T.
guy and dad is a disabled ex-mechanic. We do our own maintenance on it learning from YouTube
videos and repair guides. 1 1/2 month ago the car's radiator cracked and all the coolant poured
out. This happened while the car was idling and my mom was sitting in it. She explained smoke
pouring out of the hood. Naturally I replaced the radiator myself and the car was up and
running.
A week after that the car started showing weird overheating problems. An engine check light also
came on. The temperature sensor would climb really fast and when the car was turned off it would
climb down. I observed this happening in stop-and-go situations. If the car is running fast, it
cools down and never overheats. For example before getting on the highway it might be
overheating but as soon as I push the throttle, the temp goes down. I borrowed a OBDII recorder
from a friend and pulled the following data from it.
P0118---Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor -Circuit High Input [CURRENT];
P1457---P1457 [CURRENT];
P1457---P1457 [PENDING];
I graphed the car speed and engine coolant temperature so you can get an idea:
As you can see between 0110 and 0220 I idled the car, drove very slowly, idled again, drove
slowly and then idled again to cause the temp to shoot to ceiling. The Weird thing is, this
doesn't always happen. I had to drive around for about 6 hours to reproduce this problem.
My research brought me to a faulty ECT sensor (P0118) and something about a EVAP canister
(P1457). I checked to make sure the head gasket is not blown and it seems to be fine. There is
no drop in coolant level or colour of it.
Can you kind people please help me out?
(Canadian exclusive) is identical to a Civic. It uses the D17A2 1.7 L engine and all internals
are same. The only difference is the body panels. So you can treat it same as a civic.
With that out of the way the car has 270k+ km on it and it has been driving solid. I am an I.T.
guy and dad is a disabled ex-mechanic. We do our own maintenance on it learning from YouTube
videos and repair guides. 1 1/2 month ago the car's radiator cracked and all the coolant poured
out. This happened while the car was idling and my mom was sitting in it. She explained smoke
pouring out of the hood. Naturally I replaced the radiator myself and the car was up and
running.
A week after that the car started showing weird overheating problems. An engine check light also
came on. The temperature sensor would climb really fast and when the car was turned off it would
climb down. I observed this happening in stop-and-go situations. If the car is running fast, it
cools down and never overheats. For example before getting on the highway it might be
overheating but as soon as I push the throttle, the temp goes down. I borrowed a OBDII recorder
from a friend and pulled the following data from it.
P0118---Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor -Circuit High Input [CURRENT];
P1457---P1457 [CURRENT];
P1457---P1457 [PENDING];
I graphed the car speed and engine coolant temperature so you can get an idea:
As you can see between 0110 and 0220 I idled the car, drove very slowly, idled again, drove
slowly and then idled again to cause the temp to shoot to ceiling. The Weird thing is, this
doesn't always happen. I had to drive around for about 6 hours to reproduce this problem.
My research brought me to a faulty ECT sensor (P0118) and something about a EVAP canister
(P1457). I checked to make sure the head gasket is not blown and it seems to be fine. There is
no drop in coolant level or colour of it.
Can you kind people please help me out?
05-22-2013, 04:56 PM
#2
Honda-Tech Member
Re: 2001 Acura 1.7 EL Overheating Issue
Did you burp the system enough when you re-filled the coolant? Sometimes you have to massage the hoses. Also check to see if the thermostat is sticking or has gone bad.
An EVAP system problem wouldn't cause it to overheat so, you can rule that one out as the cause.
P0118 may not be a faulty ECT even though it's the most likely culprit. Look in the FAQ's for the diagnostic tree or PM me for it if you can't find it.
An EVAP system problem wouldn't cause it to overheat so, you can rule that one out as the cause.
P0118 may not be a faulty ECT even though it's the most likely culprit. Look in the FAQ's for the diagnostic tree or PM me for it if you can't find it.
05-22-2013, 05:41 PM
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Re: 2001 Acura 1.7 EL Overheating Issue
I did burp the system properly so I ruled out any bleeding related problems. As you suggested I took out my thermostat and tested it using boiling water and it works fine. Eliminating the EVAP I think it must be that ECT sensor. I will head to the junkyard tomorrow and try to find one so I can test it. Thanks for narrowing it down for me. Much appreciated 
05-22-2013, 10:15 PM
#4
Honda-Tech Member
Re: 2001 Acura 1.7 EL Overheating Issue
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