My car has randomly been overheating off and on

I started by replacing the thermostat and it was good for a week. Then replaced the radiator cap and it was good for a couple days. After driving to work 60 miles and back home today, I was almost home and I noticed the car starting to overheat again!

Thermostat has been replaced
Radiator cap has been replaced

What else?!

 

By the way it's a 1996 honda accord LX with about 230,000 miles.

 

Have you checked that the fans work? And the system's been bled properly? Are you losing fluid?

 

The fans do work. The system has been bled and I'm not losing fluid. I've replaced the radiator a couple years ago. I'm thinking it could be the thermo switch.

 

If can only be the thermo switch if the fans aren't working. Would you like to revise your answer regarding "the fans do work"?

 

The fans do work.

 

do the fans come on by themselves when the car is running or did you just jump them straight to the battery to test them?

 

I've been riding in the car all day. I left the radiator cap off last night, put it on this morning and she's been good. I noticed the temperature to up for a little to the halfway mark but it went back down. Where it always stays to halfway between cold and halfway mark. One thing is my ac isn't as cold as it was. Any idea why?

 

Update: I'm thinking it could be the radiator bc I got the car at 140,000 and now I'm at 240,000. Does this sound right?

 

I just noticed that my passenger fan came on but my driver didnt. Ac was on full blast.

 

on the 4cyl the radiator fan is the passenger side and the ac fan is on the drivers, on the v6 its reversed

 

hello there, it's you car overheating when the car is running or just when is at idle?

 

Should both fans run when the ac is on full blast? It only overheats at idle?

 

It only overheats at idle*

 

what engine do u have? id assume a v6 if ur pass fan was on while u had the ac on. ur a/c not beign as cold would b cuz ur radiators running hotter than it should since the fan doesnt come on. pull the fan relay and test it id say its gone bad.

 

I don't have a v6. It's a 2.2L.

 

YOU'RE SO RIGHT. I just noticed my ac was colder. Lift the hood and bam both fans are on.

 

4 cyl 2.2

 

most likely ur temperature switch has gone bad. the a/c button gives power to the radiator fan so that explains y that works when the a/c is on, but the condensor fan only runs when the temp switch says the engine is hot. and if the temp switch is bad ur radiator fan gets no power when the a/c is off causing neither fan to work

 

Is this normal? I wonder if its the original one. Is it expensive and hard to fix or no? I know very little about cars but I'm learning. Thank you.

 

Could this be why sometimes both fans work and some don't? Can temperature switches go in and out?

 

Is it also called a temperature sensor?

 

honestly temp switch is my only guess. from the diagram im looking at ur engine has 2, 1 for a lower temp and a back up for a higher temp. my guess is the 1 for the low temp failed and now ur running on ur back up that only trips at a higher temp

 

I do know that my car was overheating, had the thermostat replaced and all was good but this guy in a truck backed into me at a stop light (I was behind him) and maybe this made my driver fan loose or only work sometimes.

 

Seriously how hard is it to watch your fans and report EXACTLY which fans come on and which don't and when. It's really vital that this information be given and accurately. Or you can have people guessing as to what the problem is. If you would have done that already you would have a definitive answer by now.

Or people can keep guessing.