Hello,
I just purchased a 96 accord and while it needs a few things, one of the issues i discovered is that the temp gauge seems too fluctuate between 1/3 and 5/8 or so on the gauge. I also noticed my fans run when the car is off, but never seem to run when the car is actually on. I can control the temp gauge with my heater core( full heat on inside) and this seems to bring it down slightly too below the normal line. I took a IR temp reading of the radiator today and the lower hose was 80 degrees while the top one was about 180...It seems the radiator is either clogged or thermostat not working or something else? Anyone with some input? Thank You

Also the radiator appears to be rather new( probably aftermarket though)

 

I'd start small. Replace the t-stat, pretty cheap. Be sure to bleed the air out of the system properly after this.

Then, on/near the t-stat housing (lower hose) there is a two wire green connector. Remove the connector and jump the two wires of the connector (paper clip or something), turn the key to on/pos II......do both fans run?

It looks like you have an IR temp gun, so can I assume you have a voltmeter for further testing if needed?

 

Yes i do have one. I just bought a thermostat and will put it in tommarow. Do you know the resistance of that sensor?

 

I just jumped the switch and the fans work where as before they were not working???Maybe a bad switch at t-stat?

 

Fixed it...Was just my thermostat.What a huge relief, i flushed system, put new t-stat in. Bleed system for 30 mins at about 2k rpm. Once the fans kicked in i figured it was fixed.Let fans cycle about 10 times to be positive. Now runs mint! Thanks Lost Again

 

If thermostat doesn't open the coolant can't hit that sensor to turn it on.

 

Yep. I've seen a sticking thermostat that I doagnosed by watching the gauge vs. the cycling of the fans. The gauge only went to about 5/8 like stated above. Once the sticking thermostat opened, the coolant flowed, the fans came on and the gauge dropped to normal very shortly after. Pretty cool to watch.