I've done a LOT of searches and have gotten conflicting messages about what the temperature guage should read as far as normal operating temperature goes.

I bought a used 97LS with 137k miles. My temp guage reads just below a quarter of the guage and never goes past that. I read here that that could be a sign of a bad thermostat.

So yesterday, I drained all my coolant, installed a new 170degree thermostat, flushed the cooling system, then installed fresh coolant and bled the system. But after all that work, my temperature still never gets past the 1st quarter of the guage.

Some threads I've read say that's normal, and others say it should go just below the middle line. Does anyone know for sure the truth to this?

Here's a pic of my temp guage:

 

I'd like to hear more on this also...my temp guage sits well below C for quite a while, even when the air warms up. Then after a while it goes just a touch past where yours does in the picture. I've always wondered if this is normal...I have heard that because the Integra's have twice the radiator width of the civics, they stay cooler, but who knows.

 

mine stays at about that level too, but ive noticed that when im not moving much like if im sitting in traffic or at a long light it starts getting closer to the middle but once I start driving again it goes right back down to between C and where your picture shows it. I just always assumed this was normal

 

Maybe it's normal then? Does anyone have an owners manual to verify this?

 

i dont know where you guys live, but i live in san diego and my tach is aways in the middle. i always shift gears at 5-7000 RPM. Maybe thats why, i dont know.

 

did you mean "temp guage" and not "tach"? I live in SoCal. That pic was taken last month. Since I changed my thermostat yesterday, the needle is like 2mm higher than that, but still, it's no where close to the middle.

So is it possible I have a bad:
1. temp guage?
2. temp sending switch?
3. coolant temp sensor?

Is there anyway to test or verify any of the above?

 

Ok, so that 1st pic I posted was taken before the thermostat was changed. This one was taken 10 min ago. It's still not where the middle is, but it's a bit higher than before. Is this considered "normal"?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fabric8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ok, so that 1st pic I posted was taken before the thermostat was changed. This one was taken 10 min ago. It's still not where the middle is, but it's a bit higher than before. Is this considered "normal"?

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats is about where my 00 GSR temp needle is after warming up.

 

This has got me stumped too. I've read that VTEC won't engage if not warmed up to operating temperature. I'm not even sure where the needle should be during operating temperature since on my 97 GSR it's a little below the middle. On my prelude it was halfway.

 

A good sign that the thermostat is going bad is when your temp gauge goes up a quarter and goes back down to C when you start driving. Plus your heat never warms up because the thermostat is stuck on open so the car never gets up to the proper operating temperature. This is what happened to my 94 GSR and I've changed my thermostat and it's solved my problem. BTW that is also where my gauge sits when my car is at normal operating temp.

 

^ He said he replaced the thermostat.

Sounds like it's pretty normal...I've noticed that my temp guage takes FOREVER to even get above the C. I thought thermostat at first, but my air gets warm relatively soon (could be better). It also comes out of open loop after only a few minutes of driving (Idle rpm drops back to normal, from 1500.) So it seems that the engine is warming up, just more slowly then most other cars. Who knows...maybe it is the larger radiator. I've been tempted to pick up a Civic rad just to see if it makes my car warmer in the winter.