my car has been overheating lately but only when my car is on and is at a COMPLETE stop. as i begin to roll, the temp gauge begins to descend back to the middle. my radiator fluid is fine and i also checked for bubbles, that does not seem to be the problem. does anyone know what the problem may be?

 

try running the heat when it does it next time. full blast

see what happens.

 

turned on heat when my temp gauge went over middle. but the car is still overheating. and the thing is that it only overheats at night. any solutions?

 

nah its not based on day/night... check your coolant lev.. the reason why it only overheats at a stop is because when you're moving, air is entering the engine bay to cool it a bit, and the air going into the intake sucks cold air into the motor. (u'll notice a huge diff if u shift from 2nd to 5th while rolling and floor it.)

coolant
radiator fan
thermostat

^-- things u need to check

 

coolant level is fine. i'm not losing any fluid at all. so radiator fan or thermo MAY be the problem. i'll check it out. thanks!

 

did u do a coolant flush? might just be the coolant itself

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dagle &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">nah its not based on day/night... check your coolant lev.. the reason why it only overheats at a stop is because when you're moving, air is entering the engine bay to cool it a bit, and the air going into the intake sucks cold air into the motor. (u'll notice a huge diff if u shift from 2nd to 5th while rolling and floor it.)

coolant
radiator fan
thermostat

^-- things u need to check </TD></TR></TABLE>

dagle, you do know the purpose of a radiator, right? lol

when you're moving, the air through the radiator is what cools things off, when that isn't enough, the fan kicks on to pull more air thru it.

OP: Preludes have been known to have weird problems with the temp gauge, so that is why I'm skeptical that your car is really overheating. Do you drive a 4th gen or a 5th?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mgags7 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

dagle, you do know the purpose of a radiator, right? lol

when you're moving, the air through the radiator is what cools things off, when that isn't enough, the fan kicks on to pull more air thru it.

OP: Preludes have been known to have weird problems with the temp gauge, so that is why I'm skeptical that your car is really overheating. Do you drive a 4th gen or a 5th?</TD></TR></TABLE>

my car is a 4th gen. i am also skeptical with the gauge because my friends 4th

gen had the same problem. he changed out his radiator and the problem went

away. but i'm hoping that i don't have to change the radiator out.

 

rofl sorry, was sleepy.. totally forgot this JDMradiator thing ur talking about

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dagle &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">rofl sorry, was sleepy.. totally forgot this JDMradiator thing ur talking about </TD></TR></TABLE>





OP: If you have access to one, try a pyrometer, get it to "overheat" in the driveway, and then use the pyrometer to check the temp. See if it is really overheating.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mgags7 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">





OP: If you have access to one, try a pyrometer, get it to "overheat" in the driveway, and then use the pyrometer to check the temp. See if it is really overheating.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ok i will do that. what is overheating temperatures?

and if the car is not overheating? what should i do to fix it?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by supersonic782g &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

ok i will do that. what is overheating temperatures?

and if the car is not overheating? what should i do to fix it?</TD></TR></TABLE>

My fan comes on at about 190, so if you see it climbing higher than that it is probably overheating.

If it's not overheating it could be a bad ground for the dash electronics or ECU.

Edit, corrected the temp number


Modified by Hawkze_2.3 at 9:57 PM 4/28/2008

 

Check or replace your thermostat, then flush the radiator fluid...then see what happens. I had the same problem you did in my 4door civic...i think its the thermostat..and test/feel the flow tube to the radiator

 

my car's dash has been going out is what i just recently noticed. only where the climate control and the other buttons around that go out. can this be the problem? which ground should i check?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hawkze_2.3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

My fan comes on at about 190, so if you see it climbing higher than that it is probably overheating.

If it's not overheating it could be a bad ground for the dash electronics or ECU.

Edit, corrected the temp number


Modified by Hawkze_2.3 at 9:57 PM 4/28/2008</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by supersonic782g &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my car's dash has been going out is what i just recently noticed. only where the climate control and the other buttons around that go out. can this be the problem? which ground should i check?

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

There are small grounds all throughout the dash harness (and all other harnesses) that bolt to the frame all over the place, and there is also a major ECU ground on the thermostat housing right under the longer radiator where it attaches to the engine.

 

so i should check the ground should be under the radiator hose by the thermostat housing?

if this ground goes out, does it affect the dash electronics. because whenever i put my car in reverse, the dash lights seems to lose power for a second.

also, i noticed that the brightness control was not as bright as it use to be.

 

You might as well check it, but if it does not make contact the car will not run, so that's probably not it.

You probably have a ground issue somewhere in the dash harness or a connector is dirty .

 

so what is the best way to approach the situation?

sorry im a newb. can i get like a step by step process

 

I can tell what I would do if it was my car....may not be the best way for everyone, but it's what I would do.

-Remove the plastic trim around the gauges, and the speakers on the sides. It's all simple screws and clips, just be careful.

-Now you should be able to see most of the wiring and the actual gauge housings.

-Make the gauges repeat what the problem was and then tap on stuff and jiggle connectors to see if anything fixes the problem. Whatever it was that fixed it when you tapped on it was the problem. It may just go away after that.

-If that didn't do anything, try unplugging connectors and checking for dirt and corrosion on the pins inside. Sometimes plugging them back in can fix issues.

-Check for damaged wires.

-If it's not the connectors or the wires it's probably something inside one of the boxes or control units. I don't know exactly what to do, but if you can find one part that is bad just get a new one....

Hope that helps in some way

 

ok i get what your saying. just check the wires connected to the gauge housings(climate control, tach, etc...) and mess around with it and the wire that fixes is the problem can possibly be it.

 

 

im haveing "overheating" problems too, so i bought a prosport gauge and hose adapter and my car reads 185 all the time, but occasionally my original temp gauge goes full heat and when i move it goes down but the prosport gauge reads 185 so, i would get a aftermarket gauge that reads in degrees not bars, the 4th gen dash is like 120-140 for the first bar and 140-185 for the secaond bar, i really hate the 4th gen temp gauge, but i wouldnt continue driving the car if it is really overheating, thats how i blew my headgastket, also are your hoses swelled/tight if not you might just need a new radiator cap.

 

i had the exact same problem, check your thermostat.

 

i don't trust the OEM gauge at all... when i had a bad fan relay, the temp got up to 230 one time sitting in traffic, and it was still two bars. (middle)

the first bar always comes on at EXACTLY 140 and the second bar comes on EXACTLY at 172. at what temp is the 3rd bar supposed to light up? I think it sure as hell should be lower than 230...

One other time a couple years ago before i had my aux temp gauge, i ran low on coolant and the 3rd and 4th bar did come on, so i know the gague works... i'm scared as to how hot it actually got

 

check to see if the tube in the coolant reservoir has fallen down, i have a 5th gen and i had overheating issues when i was parked or at a stop and my temp gauge would slowly go up.
my cousin took out the coolant reservoir and found that the tube has fallen in, pluged it back in to the top and since then No Overheating issue.