My 1999 Honda Accord is possibly possessed. The symptoms include: rising temperature, cooling fans do not come on with engine on or off. With engine running, fans will turn on when AC button is engaged only. When my friend removed the radiator cap, she said she thought the coolant wasn't circulating and that I needed a water pump, then she said it was circulating but very slowly. She changed her prognosis to tstat. We changed it - no help, (it looked fine). Still high temps... Next the fan switch down stream of the tstat was changed in the parking lot of the auto parts store, again, no help. Later flushing the radiator appears to have done the trick although the fans have yet to run with the ignition off.
So, here are my questions:
1. Why couldn't I find ya'll last night?!? & where have you been all of my Honda life?
2. When I drained the radiator, the coolant appeared very dark colored, like it was straight out of the bottle.. unmixed! Would the dealership do this? (It was my Mom's car before me), and could it cause these problems?
3. While flushing the radiator, the bleeder screw only 'bled' when the radiator cap was in tightened down. When the cap was off, the bleedeer screw only sputtered a few times. (The heater was on full blast the whole time). Also the coolant in the radiator didn't really get all of that hot, in fact it does not over heat while idiling. Oh, and we didn't leave the cap off after tightening the bleeder screw. Did we botch the job, even though the fans did kick on?
4. Another notable finding, the top radiator hose felt pretty soft during the idling process. Can a water pump slowly 'trickle out'? I've only known them to go out with a BIG splash!
5. Also at times, depressing the brake pedal causes my stereo volume to mute itself but it immediately goes back to its previous setting. Interestingly, the temp dropped when the car's temp was on the rise every time I hit the brakes. AND, the brakes chatter/sqeek while I'm driving/accelerating more than when braking. What in the world?
6. Lastly, my last Honda, I found it necessary to purchase two manuals as neither provided complete information. Can any of you recommend a decent 'car cook book' for this model?

I'm getting ready to head home (45 min. drive) and I'll post how the journey goes soon. Thanks for your help.


Modified by Miss Keli at 11:11 PM 4/12/2008

 

1) We were on vacation last night

2) Honda Premixed has a darker color but is ready to be poured straight from the bottle this is probably what they used

3) By bleeder screw I'm assuming you mean the one that's further up and on the actual motor? This one should be bled with the car running (but cold > warm NOT hot) have the car running with it and it'll circulate the coolant through and continue adding coolant until it bubbles out of it.

4) When was the last time you had the Tbelt/water pump replaced? I don't think mine is rock hard while going, but I wouldn't say it's that soft. If you water pump is old (70k miles or 7 years) replace it

5) Short possible? Check the wiring on the pedal assembly and see what's going down, it COULD be something related to the brake light switch drawing power away from the radio? You could test out the alternator and see how it's doing.

6) I *think* the better of the two is a Helms?