this is my first time posting in the prelude forums because recently my gf just bought a 97 prelude...when u drive the car the temp gauge goes up about half way, and i know its prob normal...but when u turn on the ac the gauge almost goes all the way up, especially when your at idle(stoplight or something)...what can cause this?...i checked the fluid and it was full...what else should i check?

also even when u dont drive the car for like 2-3 hours and go turn it on...the temp goes straight up to halfway rite when u turn it on...in my integra it would take a lil driving to warm it up again and raise the coolent temp...confused about this too...help me out guys

 

i would suspect a bad coolant temp sender, or a bad connection

 

It might have some air trapped in the lines.. Do a search on how to bleed the cooling system.

 

thermostat

 

Id recommend checking the coolant level before you go pulling the thermostat.

 

coolent is filled all the way up...is the thermostat hard to change?...hopefully all it needs is a bleed ...havent had time to look at it yet...anymore ideas?

 

since it goes all the way to the H, does it smoke when you park the car? and does any fluid leak when its parked? i'm asking cause that's what JUST happened to my car and i had to get my thermostat changed and a new fan cable. honda charged 250 total. but that's just my case, do all the other checks h-t is suggesting then go from there.

 

it never really goes all the way up to H...i only let it go up to 3/4 of the way...i would turn off the ac...it only does it when the ac is on pretty high...once u turn the ac off and start cruising the gauge goes back down to 1/2...its kinda wierd...doesnt smoke or anything...i opened the rad cap and the fluid was still all the way at the top...havent checked anything else

also the ac is cold sometimes and then not cold...then goes back to cold...repeats itself is seems like

 

Well, Is the engine still hot to the touch when you start it up a few hours later or is the guage just reading that it is hot? If it isnt hot to the touch which I cant see happening then it would be a coolant temp sensor.

 

check the coolant mix, make sure you are going at least 60% water 40% antifreeze....water cools better...

then if you are full and mixed well, change the thermostat....i had the same problem and i did the above now its gone....

 

also make sure that the fans are working. Right now, my car overheats at red lights if i sit there too long because my fans are not coming on. I have changed everything and even straight wired the fans. fans them self works, not sure what else to check. But check the fans. when the a/c compressor is on, it has it own fan that runs to cool things down. If that can isnt on or working at all, it may cause things to heat up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdmlude_dude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">also make sure that the fans are working. Right now, my car overheats at red lights if i sit there too long because my fans are not coming on. I have changed everything and even straight wired the fans. fans them self works, not sure what else to check. But check the fans. when the a/c compressor is on, it has it own fan that runs to cool things down. If that can isnt on or working at all, it may cause things to heat up.</TD></TR></TABLE>

thanks for the replys guys...could possibly be the fan i think...my gf havent brought the car over...ill go check it out tomorrow