hey all,

i am brand new to the civic world coming from a dodge neon (haha i know). anyways so i just picked up a 95 coupe with the d16z6 motor and a 5speed tranny. really nice little car and i like it a lot so far. i changed the oil and filter, plugs and wires, and the cap and rotor on it this past weekend and one thing that i have noticed is the water temp gauge. let me try to explain what happens in detail:

i have had the car for about a week and have noticed that the water temp does not warm up. if i let the car idle for about 15min it will go about 1/3 the way up the gauge. as soon as i begin driving the needle drops back all the way down on the Cold line. tonight i drove it about 9 miles on the highway after letting it warm up for about 10 minutes and about 1 mile down the road the water temp dropped the whole way down. so when i got home i popped the hood and put my hand on the valve cover, the radiator, and the upper coolant hose. those parts were a little warm but i could definately hold my hand on them without burning me. i also noticed that the heat doesnt work very well at all when the water temp drops. anyways i think it has a fairly new radiator. my question is how do i fix this? i really would like heat in the winter and it cant be good for the motor to run this cold. could it be the thermostat?

another quick question i have is the car has 99K miles on it and i plan to replace the timing belt and water pump and get the valves adjusted this summer. is there anything else that should be replaced at the same time, i.e. tensioners, pulleys, etc.?

anyways thanks in advance for the help and i am sorry this is so long.


Modified by judunty84 at 6:33 PM 1/11/2007

 

WELCOME!!

change your thermostat.. might have been taken out or stuck open..
if that don;t work you need to replace the fan switch which is right next to the thermostat..

when you change the timming belt you should change the tensioners too

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gezzuzz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">WELCOME!!

change your thermostat.. might have been taken out or stuck open..
if that don;t work you need to replace the fan switch which is right next to the thermostat..

when you change the timming belt you should change the tensioners too</TD></TR></TABLE>

Both of these are easy. 10 minute job.

 

thanks for the replies! what temp thermostat should i get? also what would the fan switch do?

 

if you fan switch is broke it could cuz the temp gauge to go up and down.its what kicks on teh fan

 

should i get the 170 or 190 thermostat?

 

i had the same thing happen this morning on my 99 si (195k ) i am leaning toward thermostat. it could not be the fan switch, because the fan did not go on (because of the cool temp. i will replacing mine with an oem thermostat, as many of the aftermarket suppliers around here sell garbage.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hybrid-Fusion &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Both of these are easy. 10 minute job. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Damn, it usually takes me longer to do timing belts . Isn't no 10 minute job for me. - Uncool.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Syndacate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Damn, it usually takes me longer to do timing belts . Isn't no 10 minute job for me. - Uncool.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i think he meant the thermostat and fan switch

 

yea i am leaning toward thermostat and will be replacing it tomorrow, i cant think of anything else in cold weather that would not allow the vehicle to warm up. anyways i just need to know whether or not to get the 170 or 195 degree thermostat

 

i still would like to know if i should get the 170 or 195 degree thermostat