99 Accord 2.3L running temperature..
 

Hey guys, new to the forum here. So I just bought a 99 Accord with the 2.3l, (my second one btw) car is in excellent shape, got a good deal on it because it needed a head gasket. Little back story before the current issue at hand, like I said, I bought it knowing it needed a head gasket, so got new fel pro gasket, after I had pulled the head, discovered someone had put an ungodly amount of stop leak in it, so before I continued with the head, I cleaned as much of the stop leak out as I could, took forever. Anyway, I got all the old gasket material off the block, got the new gasket on, decided to check the head to see if it was warped, well my luck it was, so I got a brand new head. Put the head on, new head bolts, torqued to spec. Flushed radiator, put new coolant in. Ok so fast forward, wife took it on a hour road trip, on the way back, over heated a little, she immediately shut it down before it got to hot on the dummy gauge. When I got there, it had blown the top hose by the thermostat. Got it fixed, started heading home, before we got home it started over heating again, blowing antifreeze in to the overflow. Turned out the cap wasn't opening when it should, overpressuring, stopped at a O'Reillys in a local town and got a new cap, and topped it off with coolant. Got it home, was starting to overheat again, but not as rapidly as before. Then it hit me, the radiator was clogged up with stop leak... So now I got a new radiator, new hoses, new thermostat, and i tested it too to make sure it didn't blow the new gasket, water pump appears to be circulating good. Hasn't been boiling coolant now but, I had to put a aftermarket temp gauge on as the cluster is acting funny (got new cluster coming), according to the gauge, and it was 87 degrees here today, when driving with the AC off, it was running right at 200 degrees, going about 45mph in town, at a stop light, it goes up to 210, fans kick on and bring it back down to 200 ish, then goes back up to 210 again and back down to 200ish. Never actually overheatrd. So I'm just wondering if this temperature range sounds right... I searched the forums and couldn't quite find a solid answer.... Thanks guys!

Re: 99 Accord 2.3L running temperature..
 

Yup that's about right.
Engine is more efficient when running at 200-225°F.

Re: 99 Accord 2.3L running temperature..
 

Awesome thanks a lot bud!

Re: 99 Accord 2.3L running temperature..
 

That's what I typically get when driving my 02 with the same engine too. It used to worry me a little after driving home from work, but I did temp tests with a couple other 6thgens at a car meet once and asked around and it's totally normal stats.

Though tbh 6thgen engine bays don't seem as good as more modern Accords at venting heat too. Compared to my 9thgen the 02 feels like an oven when you open it up after a drive.