how long does it take for most of you guys (gsr specifically 95) to warm up?

the warmest point on my car is here ( between the | | is my usual warmest point when its up) (M = middle line)
..C...|..|...M..........H..

takes a good 10-20 mins to even get there sometimes

today ive been driving the car whole day, left after dinner and drove bout 40~+ miles in the night and it was here ..C...|.......M.......H..

wtff????

help please

not to mention my gas mileage looks like crap even when i don't hit vtec, ppl hitting vtec so much and get 30mpg~

i run 1/10th a throttle all the time, and ppl runninglike i do usually report 35+ mixed mpg on a gsr and i'm getting mid 20s....

what else can cause this the c-h needle to go wierd


Modified by PowerLeg at 9:48 AM 10/5/2008

 

help

 

replace your thermostat

 

is the process easy? i heard you have to drain stuff.... what is it that you drain? and also change hoses while you're at it?

or is it a simple process of just taking off thermostat and replacing it w/o messing with anything else

 

got to the parts store and buy a thermostat
they will walk out to your car and tell/show you how

it is easy and simple

and remember to search!
I searched "replace thermostat" and this popped up right away

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1502877


oh and on a final note
be careful where you drain. coolant is toxic. dont let animals get to it.
I always use the low/no-tox coolant. it doesnt cost much different than any quality coolant and why use a poison when you dont need to?


Modified by HondaHeddie at 12:37 PM 10/5/2008

 

thanks, i'll also buy some new coolant

but how much does a oem thermostat from a acura dealership cost? i should check that first b4 some of the standard autozone etc part stores out there.

 

I had the same issue last winter. Turned out to not only be the thermostat, but that my radiator had a big leak and I didn't have enough coolant in the system. Definitely replace the thermostat though...it's a pretty simple job. Just make sure you bleed the system completely when you're done to get the air out. If you can find a helms online, that would walk you through the process...

OEM thermostats are like $15 I think, don't remember exactly. It's worth the extra money IMO...I've had problems with auto parts store thermostats on different cars, so I usually stay away!

 

Or you could have a bad thermostat switch. Mine was bad would only read just about the 'C' on the gauge. But when I would hook up my code scanner, coolant temps were at 192. Replaced the thermostat switch, now it reads just about 1/3 up on the gauge

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ruffrhyder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Or you could have a bad thermostat switch. Mine was bad would only read just about the 'C' on the gauge. But when I would hook up my code scanner, coolant temps were at 192. Replaced the thermostat switch, now it reads just about 1/3 up on the gauge </TD></TR></TABLE>

the other symptoms he has are saying bad tstat (stuck open) I had the EXACT same things happen when mine stuck open

and YES I agree, get the dealer part, but you could still get pointers from a guy at a parts store when you buy some new coolant. you may as well do a full coolant swap at this point (to lo-tox)

 

You mean coolant temp. sending unit. The thermo. switch operates the fan.

 

i'm bout to buy a thermostat today so hope its a fix

for anyone w/ a 95 gsr, how long does it take for your car to warm up towards the middle? 5 minutes???

or is it normal to take 10-15 minutes to even get a little past the C....

 

It's a quick fix. Go to a NAPA, ask for a superstat. They are stainless steel, always had great luck with them. And there also only like $8. I would pull the starter just to make it easier to get to the bolts on the housing. You'll be there for a while with only quarter turns on the ratchet if you don't. Gear wrenches help too.

 

It takes me about 3-4 minutes MAX to warm up driving very conservatively. When mine was bad, it would take at least 15 minutes, but often it never got to operating temperature. You definitely need to replace your t-stat man, it's worth the time! You really don't need to pull the starter...just be patient with a wrench/ ratchet, or use a ratcheting wrench if you've got one.

Drain the coolant from the Radiator, then from the engine by the drain bolt on the front of the block. Unbolt the T-stat housing, replace with the new one and a new gasket (come together if you buy OEM), and then put it back on. Fill it up with a 50/50 mix and follow the helms directions for burping the air out of the system. You might not get all the air out right away ( I never seem to be able to), but after you warm it up and drive it a bit, let it it cool and then try again. Good luck!


Modified by bakertime at 9:07 PM 10/6/2008

 

napa? superstat? if 8$ and good i'll go find it

i didnt have money for a oem one which costed 30$ @ honda and also autozone has duralast and some for like 12-14$ didn't have money for that either i'll have money forsure tomorrow, i'm going oem if anyone cant chime in on the autozone "duralast" "failsafe" Etc or w/e

^i'll be attempting to air it out 2x?

thanks guys good info

 

What the? the OEM one is $17 at Acura, I just checked. Haha...not sure what's up at the dealer.

The Honda P/N for my GSR was 19301-P08-316...I think that it's the same for a lot of cars though. When I asked for a thermostat, he didn't even ask my what it was for, he just went and got one and it was the correct P/N.

IMO, it's worth it to go OEM for this one. I like OEM in general, but I'm not one of those guys that says buy OEM everything. A friend had a PepBoys t-stat/ gasket in his Explorer and the gasket was crap and leaked...and the t-stat itself didn't have a small feature that the OEM one did (that doesn't apply here, but the gasket does). Basically, you see a LOT of OEM thermostats in a lot of different cars last for upwards of 100k mi. It seems like once people start replacing them with other brands, they don't last nearly as long. Pay for it now, or pay for it later and have to do the work twice...it's an easy decision, haha.

Good luck man, you'll be glad you did it. It's night and day in the winter when you're freezing at first.


Modified by bakertime at 11:32 PM 10/6/2008

 

got a oem one and now the problem is installing....

i need 2 gallons of 50/50?

how many times willi be flushing etc in total?

do i have to keep it @ certain rpm for a while or anything with running cap on/off

oh, firstly i'd like to see if its the thermostat sensor, how would you fix a thermostat sensor?

misc: would resetting ECU put your car back to the best running ability?

how would you reset ecu for a 94-95 gsr, some cars are different.

Modified by PowerLeg at 10:56 PM 10/7/2008


Modified by PowerLeg at 11:04 PM 10/7/2008

 

I didn't flush my system when I did it, so I can't help you there...sorry! And yes 2 gallons should be fine. I usually get 1 gallon distilled water, 1 gallon antifreeze...it's cheaper when you mix it yourself. And I usually just idle it to burp the system. I wouldn't worry about resetting the ECU. If you really want to, I think you just unplug the ECU fuse for a while (not sure on the time, maybe 30 sec) For the sensor, I'm not sure where it's located, but I think it may be near the thermostat itself.

An easy way to figure out if it's your sensor (I think this would work at least): when it takes a while to heat up, does it also take a while for you to actually get hot air through the vents? IMO, since your display is going up at all, your sensor is probably fine. Like everyone has said, what your describing is exactly the symptoms of a bad t-stat. I would just go ahead and replace it and go from there. It doesn't sound like your engine is warming up, but that the display is wrong if it's taking that long. If you really want to check it though, you're going to need a helms manual (which you can find online for free...search).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bakertime &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I didn't flush my system when I did it, so I can't help you there...sorry! And yes 2 gallons should be fine. I usually get 1 gallon distilled water, 1 gallon antifreeze...it's cheaper when you mix it yourself. And I usually just idle it to burp the system. I wouldn't worry about resetting the ECU. If you really want to, I think you just unplug the ECU fuse for a while (not sure on the time, maybe 30 sec) For the sensor, I'm not sure where it's located, but I think it may be near the thermostat itself.

An easy way to figure out if it's your sensor (I think this would work at least): when it takes a while to heat up, does it also take a while for you to actually get hot air through the vents? IMO, since your display is going up at all, your sensor is probably fine. Like everyone has said, what your describing is exactly the symptoms of a bad t-stat. I would just go ahead and replace it and go from there. It doesn't sound like your engine is warming up, but that the display is wrong if it's taking that long. If you really want to check it though, you're going to need a helms manual (which you can find online for free...search).
</TD></TR></TABLE>

not sure about warm air.. i never used warm air on the car, i only use a/c and normal air

yea my needle moves but its SLOW, 20 mins to warm up about 30-38% when i turn it on in the morning, so my sensor is fine as you said if its moving, damn my t-stat

did you reuse your old fluid? people say to flush the system and put new fluid in so... that is why i'm asking

-thanks for the info

 

Nah, I didn't reuse fluid, but I didn't flush because the motor was recently rebuilt, and I'm lazy haha.

It sounds like your needle goes almost exactly where mine does at full temp, so it sounds like you're getting to temp, just not very quickly since the t-stat is stuck open)

If you want to PM me your email, I'll send you the helms pages for changing the t-stat