Weird. I notice my car is overheating tonight. I have replaced a faulty thermostat a few months back and I fixed a leak that sprung up after moving a hose behind the thermostat. I have plenty of coolant as I can see the reservoir is still full.

The funny thing is I noticed that the fans came on when I removed the key when I got home as the car was overheating. I noticed it and put the key back in and turned the key to on, and the fans went off, then turned it off and the fans came back on to cool the car that was overheated. I have no idea what this means except that maybe a sensor might be faulty. The inlet hose was as hot as the outlet hose so I know that the water is circulating.

Anyone have any ideas what's going on?

 

i'm thinking thermoswitch related... you've got two switches (sensors), one that keeps the fans running after the car is turned off (key is removed) and the standard one that cycles them on and off as you go down the road. the latter one may have failed.

i can't say for sure, but i think the two are identical, just in different places. i think the one on the upper rad. hose spout that bolts to the head is the secondary one that comes on when the car is off. the primary one is either on the thermostat housing or on the head under the distributor.

you should be able to jump either connecter with a paper clip and make the fans come on. once you've done that, you can look at swaping the two and see if you problem flip-flops (fans come on normally but don't stay on when the car is off..)

 

Thanks for the help. I picked up the part today and will install it tomorrow. I'll let you know if that fixes it. They look identical. I'm gonna install it on the thermostat housing first, i'm assuming that that is the primary. There is an identical one on the other housing coming from the top of the radiator. I'm guessing that's the secondary.......the one that turns the fan on when the car is off. Thanks again.

 

The two look identical from the outside, but are not once removed. The primary switch is on the thermostat housing and has a probe that sticks into the water flow. The secondary switch is on the water pump outlet housing and is flat (no probe). I believe they each have different thread size. I switched mine without draining the radiator, and only lost about a cup of fluid (unscrew old and quickly insert a finger in hole, then screw in the new one, make sure engine is cold!!) Do not overtighten or you will crack the housing.

 

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...ry5=WATER+PUMP

Well, I replaced number 14 and the problem is now solved as the car doesn't overheat at all and I hear the fan coming on constantly to keep the car from overhearting. I did notice that number 15 was similar on the outside as I took the clip off(although I didn't completely take off 15) and tested the wire clip for the hell of it on the new part of number 14 that I bought at Kragen yesterday and it did fit. But nevertheless I installed 14 where it goes on the thermostat housing. The only thing about it was that the one I bought from Kragen seemed to be a little longer on the clip side of the part as the wire clip seemed to be an odd fit, but it did fit. The threads were fine and there were no leaks.

Like you said, I just installed it without draining the fluid and it was fine. I only leaked out a couple ounces before I stuffed the new one in.

All is well for now, though. If I have any problems I'll be sure to update. Thanks again for the help.