how come when i drive my 1997 honda civic ex through anza california my temperture needle will drop all the way down to the c no matter what the weather is like! and once i leave that city it goes right back up too normal temp... and it doesnt affect the car at all. any explanations?? thanks!!!

 

Is this the only symptom? Make sure it if full of coolant. Not just the plastic but the radiator. The temp gauge is a wet bulb reading and won't read if its not in coolant. Try the heater as usually that won't work when its low.

 

The fluids are all where they are suppose to be. I was trippen when it occurred cuz I was in the middle of no where. So I pulled over and checked under the hood and everything was fine. So I waited a minute and just continued driving. It stayed that way until I got out of that city and returned to normal! But did it again through the same location on the way home.

 

have you checked your thermostat?
or temp sensor

 

Sounds like one of those fail-safe thermostats that fail in the open position, as opposed to the other way around.

If you have not lost antifreeze, I would suggest taking the thermostat out and testing or replacing it.

 

This happend about three months ago! Haven't had a problem since. But I got a weird feeling when I go through that city again the problem will occurre again. My destination is a two hour drive and anza is 40 minutes into the drive. I reached my destination hung out for 2 hours and made the drive back home. And the needle only drop wen I drive through a specific location. I thought may the elevation may have some weird effect on it. I don't know very strange. Still think it could be thermo?

 

Is your fan on all the time? And anza has its own freaking climate. No B.S.

 

The engine can't just cool off and then heat back up again. My car has a quirk like that I think maybe a ground but the turn signal indicators will be on at the same time. Fuel level freeses and temp is off and no speedo. Just for a time and the rest of the time its fine. I believe its a ground back feeding and will be a bitch to find. Make sure its the radiator thats full and not just the overflow where you check level. Try it again and see if there are any other symptoms like it could be electrical and not just a temp issue. We run pressure gauges on our circle track engines because with a leak, the temp will look fine but if pressure drops we know there has been a compromise in the system.

 

no my fan isnt on all the time. but i have replaced the water pump since that trip. you think maybe it had a minor leak at the time that may have caused it to do that? i dont know its very strange. i might be driving back through ther this weekend if happens again ill let you guys know.