Hey guys newbie here.

Well I am having an issue with my drive cycle. Seems the cat, o2, evap are not ready. Even after 250 miles. Through searching I found out if the thermostat is stuck partially open the car will never get hot enough to go through the full cycle. Hence my question on how warm these cars are supposed to get. I've only owned this car for two months so I don't have history as point of reference. That is other than the temp gauge never getting past the 1/4-1/3 mark. Is that normal or am I running cold?
See pic:




back story:
Originally the ECU was not storing memory but through this site I learned that if the backup fuse is blown it will cause memory storage problems. Sure enough my fuse was blown, I replaced it and memory is restored all except for those three items.

At this point I'm at a loss so any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-M

 

Most temp gauges in accords tend to sit right there when warmed up. Does the temp drop when its cold out? If you drive at a high speed (maintaining it) with the heat on? When it rains? If so then yes the thermo is out.

 

Mine is just a tad higher than yours.

 

Start the car up from cold start. The lower hose should stay cold for a bit before getting hot like the upper hose. If it gets hot at about the same time the thermostat is stuck open.

 

Owned a 5th gen in the family since new and another in the extended family. Both started with the temperature gauge right where yours is

 

My girlfriends runs at about a mm front the middle line. I think you're fine. lol

 

I appreciate the replies. I hadn't had a chance to sit down a reply because I 'm moving but in any case:

Well that was part of the issue. I only had the car for a couple of months and I don't have any real history of how its supposed to run nor how it performs on opposite sides of the spectrum. But anyway, the needle just sits there no matter the type of driving, long drives, hot, cool. I will say the cold test during this time of year is inconclusive as the night temperatures hover around 65F this time of year.

Silly that I didn't think of that <--in shame lol. Ok I got a chance to try it and yep thermostat seems to be working.

Thank you guys that helps. Yeah I even asked my brother in law who just loves his 4th gen accord (he's had it forever and buys newer cars but that's his keeper) and is a semi guru on it. Anyway he was surprised on how cool my car ran. But then again he knows about 4th gens not 5th. But based from everyone's responses and small tests I'm comfortable to say the thermo works as it should.

Update on the issue on the drive cycle. Since replacing the backup fuse I've been driving and at around 400 miles the evap sensor switched to ready, at around 500 miles the O2 came on line. So now I'm waiting for the cat sensor. Hopefully this whole issue has just been driving miles to complete the drive cycle. But sweet jesus 500+ miles to complete it? wow.

 

Just because your temp needle sits there does not mean that it is running cooler than most engines would. Optimal temperature just happends to sit there on the gauge. If you were to take temperature readings it would be about the same as most other normal running hondas.

 

I just wanted to update my issue.

I researched and found out that California allows 'not ready status' on two sensors and still is considered a pass. So I had it smogged and passed with flying colors. Now its been over 1500k miles and the cat sensor is still not ready. Who knows how many miles it will take but at this point I don't care because I just needed to smog my car.

 

Is there a CEL or is this something that is only seen via a scanner at the OBDII port?
If its a CEL, post codes.
If its via the scanner, the mileage is irrelevant. It is actual ON>Start>full temp>Off 'drive' cycles. I could drive from S.F. to L.A. it may be ~500miles, but that's still only one drive cycle.