overheating at onset of warm weather and A/C use
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Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Dec 2009
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overheating at onset of warm weather and A/C use
99 accord
~ 1 year ago, replaced radiator, hoses thermostat, no issue since. Cranked up the A/C for the first time yesterday. Severely overheating. Temp drops a little bit off of red mark when driving at higher speeds and when not using A/C (even better when I turn on heat).
Thinking I may simply need to increase my water:antifreeze mix ratio. Perhaps fluid is just low overall. Doubt any defective components b/c they're all new and it was fine all winter/spring. Thoughts??
~ 1 year ago, replaced radiator, hoses thermostat, no issue since. Cranked up the A/C for the first time yesterday. Severely overheating. Temp drops a little bit off of red mark when driving at higher speeds and when not using A/C (even better when I turn on heat).
Thinking I may simply need to increase my water:antifreeze mix ratio. Perhaps fluid is just low overall. Doubt any defective components b/c they're all new and it was fine all winter/spring. Thoughts??
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: May 2014
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From: Clemson, SC
Re: overheating at onset of warm weather and A/C use
I would start checking things in this order: cooling fans, thermostat, (I saw that you replaced it but I have had them be defective and fail early before) and check to see if your radiator is stopped up. if you get an infrared thermometer you can point it at different places on your radiator with your engine at normal temp and see if you have any cold spots. if so then you might want to remove it and have it professionally cleaned or just replace it. if everything is working properly with the fans, thermostat, and radiator then I would do a compression test and a cooling system pressure test to see if the head gasket is blown.
B*a*n*n*e*d
Joined: Dec 2008
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Re: overheating at onset of warm weather and A/C use
Your fan(s) aren't working. Start it up, put the ac on, and when it starts to just barely overheat see which fans aren't working. Then shut it off obviously.
I will give you a brief background on fan opertion. When the ac is turned on, when the compressor cycles on(because they compressor isn't always on when you have the ac on)both fans will run while the compressor is on. When the ac is off, both fans will run when the coolant temp gets above 195. When the ignition is on(car is on), both fans should cycle on together when they run, if only one is running there is a problem with the other fan somehow.
Report back what is happening when the ac is on and when the ac is off in terms of fan operation when the car starts to overheat.
I will give you a brief background on fan opertion. When the ac is turned on, when the compressor cycles on(because they compressor isn't always on when you have the ac on)both fans will run while the compressor is on. When the ac is off, both fans will run when the coolant temp gets above 195. When the ignition is on(car is on), both fans should cycle on together when they run, if only one is running there is a problem with the other fan somehow.
Report back what is happening when the ac is on and when the ac is off in terms of fan operation when the car starts to overheat.
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Joined: Jun 2014
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Re: overheating at onset of warm weather and A/C use
I have a similar problem with regards to the fan. When I turn the AC on, as I have read elsewhere, both fans turn on, this is good. Within a minute, they turned off. Is this normal? The car was in a drivethrough this morning and the rain was steaming off the hood, so I popped the hood and noticed the fans weren't turning.
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