So like the title says, I have a 95 GSR. This weekend I went up to Canada and it was pretty hot so I was using the AC.. But when I was stopped at the boarder crossings both times, the temp gauge would climb to the red regardless of the AC.. Driving it doesnt get hot.

I've had the car since 2007 and it has never overheated before this. I know there is info on this but when I searched I got about 200 possibilities so I'm kind of confused. I just want to hear from some of you guys who know a lot more than myself and give me a little rundown on what it could be and where should I begin. Thanks fellas!

 

Do your fans work?

 

Dunno..?

 

Definitely sounds like the fans aren't kicking on... have you checked for rubbed wiring or blown fuses?

 

I'll definitely check the fans, fuses, and wiring tonight after work.

Is there harm in driving it to work every day in the meantime? It doesn't sit at idle long enough to ever get hot..

 

Update:

Temperatures were in the 80s-90s this weekend when it was overheating, and it's about 60 right now.... BUT.

Both fans kick on.. But I could only get them to kick on when I turned the AC on, not sure if that's relevant, but they do kick on with the A/C on..

And so I checked to see if the heater worked, and it wouldn't blow hot... ANd it had worked great all winter/cold spring mornings...

So fans kick on, heater doesn't work...

 

If the rad fan, [pass. side fan] does not turn on, [without A/C on] when engine temp hits 190-200 degrees F, [a little over 1/2 way] on gauge, the ECT switch is not working.

To test, unplug the ECT switch and jump the connector/plug, if rad fan turns on, the ECT switch is bad, replace it.

Before doing anything, bleed the coolant system, you may have air in it, [heater doesn't work] also check operation of water valve.

If you find no air in coolant system, check the ECT switch, by jumping the connector. 94

 

Alright I'll bleed to system tomorrow after work, hopefully.

The biggest problem how is that I couldn't get the car to overheat today when I was messing around with it, lol.

I want to find a problem so I know I get it fixed.

 

Bleeding the system will elliminate it as a possible problem.

Also check the operation of the water valve as it may be the problem of no heat.

Question, do you still have the stock rad and rad fan?

When testing for rad fan operation, make sure A/C is off, as you already know, when A/C is on both the rad and condensor fans will run, regardless of engine temperature, this is a function of the A/C diode, however, if A/C is not on, the rad fan will not turn on unless engine temperature hits 190-200 degrees F, and only the rad fan will turn on. 94

 

Yes, stock radiator and fan... And I feel like it should have kicked on as I had the car warned up and idling for quite a while... But it didn't kick out without AC on.

As for bleeding the coolant, what's the purpose of mixing with distilled water when you refill it, and how necessary is that?

 

FCM is the man

 

Well, my heat worked today.........

 

take a look at the front of your radiator. how do the fins look?

oh, the the procedure to use distilled instead of tap, is because tap has sediments in it. which leads to a higher chance of getting gunk in your cooling system.

 

If your rad fan is not turning on when temp. gauge reads over 1/2 way, unplug the ECT switch and jump the connector, if rad fan turns on, replace the ECT switch it is defective.

Without the A/C on the only thing turning on the rad fan will be the ECT switch, if it is defective, the rad fan will not turn on. 94

 

UPDATE:

I took her for a pretty spirited ride tonight to make sure she got good and warm, and it didn't get hot.. So came home and parked it and let it idle and it get hot again...

Both fans were on and working and it was still getting warm. AND The Heater works....

I haven't been able to bleed to coolant yet because Oreilly didn't have the Honda coolant, but at least now we know that the fans work.

I guess next stop is to bleed the coolant.. I'll try to get some Today.
If that doesn't solve it, what next?

 

wild thought, do you know when the thermostat was last check/changed?

 

No clue... Ive had it since 07, never did myself

 

if you have no heat in the car, check your coolant level, you are most likely low on it, or there is nothing left in the rad, so check that to make sure it's full, because if is really low, that will cause it to over heat.

Normally if a thermostat stops working, they stop opening, and that will normally result in something getting broken, normally a upper rad hose goes first.

 

not 100% true. thermostat's can be stuck open.

only other suggestion i can give you op, is to do a coolant flush. you might have a blockage somewhere. might not be big, just enough to block the passage every now a then.

 

check all the small coolant lines going to/from the intake to make sure one of them is not leaking, do this while the car is warm and running so you might be able to see if one is dripping. Check the weep hole from the water pump too to see if its leaking. Also change the thermostat first since that is cheap, unless you want to take it out and drop it in a pot of hot water that is 200f to make sure it opens all the way. (you can use a kitchen thermometer to make sure the water is hot enough ) Just don't burn yourself. lol

 

Yeah I am going to flush and bleed the coolant, got the stuff today.

I'll probably just replace the thermostat also just to be safe..

I've never seen any leaks or any puddles so I don't think it's leaking

 

good idea, the thermostat is prob the problem.

 

Well I changed the oil and there was nothing but oil in the old oil, so that's a good sign, lol.

Saturday I am hoping to flush and bleed to coolant, replace thermostat, and unrelated to this problem, replace the brake master cylinder.

Hopefully that will take care of it, but the problem is so random it's hard to tell

 

Let us know what happens. I have the same problem with my LS swapped EF hatch, I just put the motor back together, and in two days I have gone through 3 Duralast 170 degree thermostats from autozone. They keep making the car run too warm, and one got stuck closed. I put two of them in a pot of boiling water and they did not open all the way. I'm going to get a new one from Honda tommorrow,,,and see how it goes.

 

I had a similar thing happen to me on a long drive in the summer. Turns out that my thermostat was broken