My son called me today with the symptom of the egine overheating when idling for a while. When he gets up above 20MPH it is OK. He has a 2002 Civic with a 1.7L SOHC engine. Is the the thermostat or the fan/ I'm thinking fan. I'm helping him fix this over the phone. If anyone has a picture of the thermostat location and fan location please attach so I can explain to him how to fix it.

Thanks in advance.

 

Have him open the hood and look to see if the fans are actually coming on or not. The fans are between the radiator and engine, you can see them very easily and hear them running. Driving it would cool the radiator like the fan should do when sitting stationary, so I would put my money on a blown fan fuse (check owners manual for fuse location) or relay under the hood. If the fans aren't coming on and the fuse is good, I would try switching the fan relay with an identical one to see if the fans come on. (there are 3 or 4 of the same relays in the fuse/relay box under the hood). If the fans are coming on like they should and it cools at 20mph, my next guess would be that the thermostat is stuck open or a failing water pump, but I really don't think thats likely. Let us know what you find out.
Matt