From a cold start the engine revs to 2500, slowly down to 2k, then 1500, then a steady 1000 right around the time the car should be coming up to operating temp but the needle almost never registers anything. When it does it never goes higher than the cold/normal part of the gauge. Fans haven't turned on since I've owned the car (about 10 days now), even after letting it sit at idle for a bit. After the car settles into a normal idle there's nothing out of the ordinary except for the temp gauge not showing anything. I'm thinking thermostat but I've never had any cooling problems with any of my cars so I haven't done much homework. I've already ordered a thermostat but I'd like to know if there are more shenanigans afoot so i can do some more homework. Thanks for the help.

 

i have a dead temp thermostat too which causes the temp gauge to not register.

changing the thermostat will help along with the gasket that goes for it.

as far as the fans go if they dont turn on check there connection they can be loose or faulty.

if not buy some new ones good luk!

 

try bleediing your coolant system out so that any air bubbles inside can come out. if the problem still occurs then switch your thermostat and go from there.

 

I ran the car from cold with the rad cap off and the heat on high until it settled down to around 1krpm. No bleeder bolt on this motor. No gushing, no bubbles that i could see and both upper and lower rad hoses were warm. heat is warm but not hot like it has been in other cars. still no fans.

 

So i let the car idle for even longer with the rad cap off and squeezed the upper and lower hoses a couple times. They don't feel like they're entirely full of coolant. The overflow is a little over max fill. I reved the car a little bit, squeezed the hoses a little bit and the temp gauge started to rise to about halfway to where it should be under normal condition. i put the rad cap on and took it for a ride around the block and the heat was noticeably hotter. as i drove the car the needle dropped back down the the peg.

 

thermostat is stuck open, replace and bleed the system. the car isnt getting up to operating temp so that fans wont come on.

 

Sweet man, thanks for the insight. That's what I was thinking initially but you know how it goes when you start reading too much and get to thinking F**K, it could be this, that or the other thing. Will update when i get the thermostat installed.

 

So I got the new thermostat and coolant in and I've had the car idling for about 30 minutes now and the temp gauge reads as it should and doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Bad news is that the fans still haven't turned on. It's kind of cold here and i have the garage open with the back of the car hanging out, do I just need to be patient or is something else wrong?

 

Went out to the garage to check on it and the needle was where it should be but there was a little bit of steam coming from around the radiator. I wasn't particularly neat about getting the coolant in or out, is this just residuals boiling off the header or something else? Also, upper rad hose is firm and hot, lower rad hose is cooler and a has a little more give when I pinch it.

 

if your not overheating then you're fine. your fans are probably running when you are driving. i've never seen my fans come one ever just by letting my car idle or even after 30 minutes on the freeway and opening up my hood afterwards with the motor still running..as long as you dont overheat then your coolant system is legit

 

I would change out the gage temp switch, radiator Fan switch, and the water pump.. no use to switching out coolant temp switch if your car is dropping idle, a sign that it is working.. After about 15 minutes the fan would've came on by then doesn't matter if it's freezing outside or not. I wouldn't keep on driving the car if the Fan don't work, you might cause more damages to the motor.. In the mean time jump the radiator Fan by using a paper clip, take out the Relay in the fuse box under the hood. You would put it into the constant power plug crossing over upward to complete power, if you look at it from the right side on the longer side it'll look like 4 slashes, 2 on top of 2 think of it as and X instead of writing that X from left top to bottom right you would do bottom Left to top right of the X that will turn on your Fan every time you start the car... Don't keep on driving it if you know that your Fan don't work....

What kind of thermostat did you get? there's usually 2 listing for it I always use the cooler one 175 not the 185 so it'll open up sooner. Same thing goes for the RAd Fan switch.. Change out that FAn switch first and put a new relay in almost guarantee it'll come on if you do.

 

^why would he replace the waterpump?

as long as you don't overheat you're fine, probably just haven't reached the right temp for fans to turn on

 

My car does the exact same thing. I replaced the thermostat twice thinking it was that. When I was bleeding the system, I had to rev it for like 3 or 4 mins. for the fan to finally kick on and after that it only stayed on for 15 sec. or so. My temp gauge always stays a quarter above C, haven't had any issues with it.

 

So I jumped the relay and the passenger side fan came on. Do I need to replace that relay or is it the fan switch that comes off the thermostat housing that needs replacing? And why wouldn't the driver's side fan come on as well? Or a pro bleed job/ My engine doesn't have a coolant bleed valve but it took the required amount of coolant after running the car with the rad cap open and topping off the overflow tank this morning. Still got a little bit of steam after a drive and letting it sit at idle for 10 minutes.

 

And again, I did spalsh a lot of coolant on and around the radiator. I can't tell if the steam is coming from a specific place because there's so little of it, and the temp gauge is right where it should be. Is it possible there would still be coolant boiling off after 3-4 drives and sitting overnight?

 

the passenger side fan is your main fan, which will be the first to come on. your driver side fan is purposely for your a/c. if both fans come on without the a/c on then your motor is too hot...like i said you dont have to see it to believe it that the fans are doing its job, if they werent you would be OVERHEATING!!!!!!!!!!!

 

^^^this. you DO NOT need to replace anything else. i completely disagree with everything teamLegendz said

you need to continue bleeding the system, leave the cap off and rev the motor lightly until the fan comes on. both hoses should be equally hot. hondas take forever to heat up especially when idling in cold weather.

 

Still a little bit of steam at idle and now the fan doesn't come on when I jump the relay. I LOVE CARS.

 

Ignore the small, obvious things and you'll be chasing stupid problems like a retard. FUSESFUSESFUSESFUSESFUSESFUSESFUSES. Got this squared away in two seconds two weeks ago when my dad asked me if I'd checked the fuses so I thought I'd update for anyone that searches int he future and has a similar problem.

 

Wow I can't believe the amount of misinformation inside this thread. OP I have the same problem as you and I'm sure as hell it's the Engine Coolant Temp sensor + thermostat stuck. replace the sensor and try to clean the contacts on the wire as good as possible since there might be oil that leaked onto the contact and wire.