Tonight, I happened to look down at the temperature gauge in the intrument cluster, and saw that the engine was WAY hot.

I turned the engine off, and pulled over. There was no smoke, and it would start up again with no problem. I left the car for a couple hours, then came back, and filled the radiator with water. It took every drop, so I can only assume it was dry.

After filling the radiator, I let the car idle for 5-7 minutes, and everything looked good. The gauge went up to about 45%.

Then, on the way home, it seemed to drop from there. At one point, the needle almost touched the "cold" line. I pulled over, and neither fan was spinning.

A friend of mine says it sounds like the thermostat is bad, but also told me to post it on this forum. Does that sound accurate?

If so, is there any kind of online guide to swapping this unit out? (I've searched, and found nothing)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Well, I found this online. So I guess now I'm just looking for clarification on whether or not the thermostat is my problem.

 

if your fans do not turn on, then it has to be the thermostat, but I dont know if it can be a short or something in the fan

 

the figure you showed is gonna help you when you want to change the thermostat, but I think there is a write up somewhere on the forums, not sure though

 

There is a few articles on how to read out your thermo. Use the search function, sounds like a faulty thermo to me too. It controls when your fans come on.

 

This could very well be a retarded question....I know the thermostat tells the fans when to kick on, and what-not. But is it also the same thermostat that tells my instrument cluster how hot the engine is?

 

I dont think so, I think that sensor is somewhere else, but the thermostat tells the computer when to turn the fans on

 

Hmmm....then I can't make sense of the gauge reading all the way cold.

 

Let me see, I always thought that there was diffrent sensors, like one for the fans, one for the thermostat and one that goes to the reading gauge, but when does it go to Cold?

 

I filled the radiator.
Let it idle for about 7 minutes or so.
Drove about 5 minutes and noticed the needle was dipping more and more towards the cold side.
When I decided to take my next exit it was damn near touching the cold line.
I pulled into a parking lot.
Left the engine running, popped the hood to see if anything was awry.
Made a phone call.
Checked the temperature again, and it was at around 45%.
So I drove home.
On the way home it dipped to about 25% and stayed there.

 

the thermo doesnt tell your cluster how hot your motor is. there is a temp sending unit on the side that does that. The thermostat gets stuck in the open position and the water continually flows through the motor and so it can make it run colder than its supposed to. Replace the thermo with a honda oem thermo. Its easy to relpace just follow that diagram. ^^^^^

 

There is a good chance that your thermostat is a problem, but I would also investigate where all your coolant went, and why.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4drlsintegra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if your fans do not turn on, then it has to be the thermostat, but I dont know if it can be a short or something in the fan</TD></TR></TABLE>

No it doesn't. The thermostat could be responsible, but there are a number of reasons why the fan wouldn't turn on.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vinai &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It controls when your fans come on.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 00g &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I know the thermostat tells the fans when to kick on, and what-not</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4drlsintegra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">but the thermostat tells the computer when to turn the fans on</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm not sure where this started, but the thermostat does not control the fans or send any sort of signal. It is a mechanical unit that regulates coolant flow to the radiator. The aptly-named fan switch is what controls the fans.

A potential reason why the temperature indicator is reading low could be because your thermostat is currently stuck and is allowing coolant to constantly flow through the radiator, resulting in lower than normal coolant temperatures.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HoUTX98GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the thermo doesnt tell your cluster how hot your motor is. there is a temp sending unit on the side that does that. The thermostat gets stuck in the open position and the water continually flows through the motor and so it can make it run colder than its supposed to. Replace the thermo with a honda oem thermo. Its easy to relpace just follow that diagram. ^^^^^</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Padawan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is a good chance that your thermostat is a problem, but I would also investigate where all your coolant went, and why.

No it doesn't. The thermostat could be responsible, but there are a number of reasons why the fan wouldn't turn on.

I'm not sure where this started, but the thermostat does not control the fans or send any sort of signal. It is a mechanical unit that regulates coolant flow to the radiator. The aptly-named fan switch is what controls the fans.

A potential reason why the temperature indicator is reading low could be because your thermostat is currently stuck and is allowing coolant to constantly flow through the radiator, resulting in lower than normal coolant temperatures. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Isnt that almost exactly what i just said?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HoUTX98GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Isnt that almost exactly what i just said?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I wasn't disputing what you said at all, simply expounding on it and addressing the misinformation regarding the fan operation.

 

hmmm. pardon the n00bness on my part about cooling systems stuff... but could something like a small hole in the radiator do this too? (Take all the coolant away, causing the car to run so hot?)

 

running your car with no water can cause the thermostat to stick (open or closed) and in your case it sounds like its stuck open. This will prevent your car from properly warming up which, isn't as bad as over-heating, but it isn't the greatest thing for your motor.

and theres a temperature sensor/fan switch that tells the fans to come on at a certain temp. If the thermostat is stuck open, it won't warm up to a high enough temp for the fan to kick on.

 

I appreciate all your guy's help.

I ended up getting a new thermostat and gasket from Discount Auto Parts (I know someone said to get an OEM Honda part, but Honda was too far away, and I had to work today.) I replaced the thermostat with pretty much no problem. It was harder to get off than it was to put the new one on. (I did however need to remove the intake hose.)

If the temperature needle's max is 40-45% I should be good right?

Thanks for all your help.



Modified by 00g at 10:42 PM 9/23/2006

 

Ok. Well replacing the thermostat appeared to have fixed the problem.

However it didn't.

When I filled the radiator with the 50/50 cooland mix I got, it took about 75-80% of a gallon, and it was full (from bone dry).

Since then I'd driven 3 20 minute trips. And 1 45 minute trip (all highway). Well, on my way back from the 45 minute trip, the needle went back to hot.

I pulled over, and let it cool for a few minutes, then poured 1.75L of water into the radiator (Crown Royal bottle). It took all of this.

I drove about 10 minutes, then let the car sit for about 1.5 hours.

Then once I started to accelerate up an on ramp the engine started to go to hot again. Once I let off of the gas a bit, it went down (pretty quickly) and hovered at the 45% mark again. I took my next exit. When I left the red light and accelerated the needle went towards hot again. When I let off of it a bit, it went back to 45%.

It seems like this is only happening when I accelerate quickly. Like if I get past 4500 rpms it starts to get hot.

Also, yesterday the car made a belt squeal sound twice...both times was while I was shifting.

I really need to get this fixed, but at the same time I don't wanna drop it off somewhere and them rape me.

Any ideas?

 

I deffinitely have a leak in my cooling system.

It's coming from the driver's side, and looks to be coming from the bottom of the engine.

This, coupled with what I read when searching for the term "water pump" in the Integra forum leads me to believe my water pump is leaking, but still working.

Does this sound accurate?

 

so you see coolant coming out?

and yes the water pump in on the drivers side. It could definately be causing your problem... Change the timing belt and tensioner at the same time if you replace the water pump.

 

Yes your water pump will still work if its only a small leak right now. But if you keep driving on it eventually its going to go all the way out and it will leak about as fast as you put it in. You should also change the timing belt since your going to take it off any way, and you said there was some noise coming from it.

 

sounds like the water pump is leaking. also you need to bleed the cooling system for air when you replace the thermostat or anything when refilling the cooling system.

but if u are leaking from the drivers side somewhere, its the water pump. i guess time for a waterpump, timing belt and tensioner.

 

I'm taking it in to a local Toyota dealership tomorrow morning.

They're gonna do the timing belt, water pump, all the other belts, and I'm gonna talk to them about replacing this one gasket that appears to be leaking.

It's just to the left of the valve cover.

 

that would probably be a cam seal.

 

That's exactly what is was.

They replaced:
All belts (including timing belt)
Water pump
Valve Cover gasket
Cam seal thing
and washed it

$388