My friend has a 96 accord with about 110k on it. He always has to drive around with his heater on full blast or else his car will overheat. This is all i really know about what is wrong. Can anyone give me any suggestions or other things i need to find out? thx

 

Try changing the thermostat. How long has this been happening?

 

Mine just did the same thing, like he said check the thermostat, then check to see if you have coolant in the radiator & in the reserve tank. If you don't then eventually the heater trick wont work. Your fans should eventuallly start spinning to cool off the engine even when you don't have the heater on blast, so also check to make sure the fans are working properly.

 

when people hear "thermostat" they go right straight to the one on the head....every try changing your radiator cap? only a couple of bucks... afterall, that is also a thermostat....

 

I would do a coolant flush and make sure that when it is refilled have the proper mix. The thermostat is a good idea as is checking that the fans are functioning correctly.

 

With the car running and warm open this bleeder to let the air out of the system.



I promise if you had a hose off and didnt do this it WILL run hot.

Opening this will spit and sputter coolant/air out. Open/Close every 10 seconds or so until it quits sputtering (4 or 5 times).

 

ok we checked all the fuses and coolant. We havent checked the thermo how do u do that? and also his fans do not turn on could this be caused by the thermo being bad then it not sensing it being to hot so the fans dont turn on? What else could cause the fans to not work? This is getting frusterating Thx for the help so far guys

 

???

 

To check if the thermostat is opening, feel the upper rad hose when the heat is about midway or higher. If the upper rad hose is hot, then coolant is flowing through the rad as it should be, and the thermostat is likely okay. If it's cold, then the thermostat is stuck closed, or you have a blockage in the radiator. The thermostat is fairly cheap to replace.

That still won't account for air in the system, so follow the previous posters on flushing/filling/bleeding the system if it hasn't been done already.

Check for fuses/relays for the fans as well. I don't have any documentation in front of me, but there's that, the fans themselves naturally, and I think a control circuit to check.

 

Which thermo should we check because arent there two? One in the radiator cap and one in the upper hose near the engine? Im sorry i am not all that familiar with accords. We did the fluid thing and checked the fuses. We did not check his fan relay because we dont know how to check it. Thx

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by niedejb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">With the car running and warm open this bleeder to let the air out of the system.



I promise if you had a hose off and didnt do this it WILL run hot.

Opening this will spit and sputter coolant/air out. Open/Close every 10 seconds or so until it quits sputtering (4 or 5 times).

</TD></TR></TABLE>


another easier way is to just open the radiator cap WHILE the car is running. it takes out all the air pockets in the system. WARNING: MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT OPEN THE RADIATOR CAP WHILE THE CAR IS OFF, YOU WILL GET BURNED!!!

 

Ok, thanx for all your help guys. Yesterday we drained, flushed and replaced the coolant system. Replaced all the gaskets, and replaced the thermostat. We took her for a spin for about two hours and it stayed at a steady tempurature the whole time. I think we may have fixed it!!! Once again thanx for all your replies i appreciate it.

 

Well we thought we fixed it but we didnt The damn thing was going fine for two days and now it overheats again. The fans will not turn on after the car gets too hot. We checked the fuses and relays already and the fans will turn on when you turn the fan on in the climate control, but not automatically like they should. Any more ideas guys?

 

Ok we are thinking we are going to check the thermo sensor. How do we do it and where is it? Thx again guys

 

in that pic of the bleeder screw, the green plug just below the bleeder is the fan temp switch. check and see if that is bad, most likely it is if the fans don't turn on execpt with the A/C

 

Pull that green plug & turn on the ignition (I don't know if the engine actually has to be running). Short the 2 pins together in the plug, that should make the fans run.

If that makes the fan run, then your problem is a bad temp switch. If it doesn't make them run, you're gonna be checking wiring, fuses, & relays from there to the fan.

 

new radiator and/or thermostat.. also check the hoses for temperature .. most likely it's the radiator.. my dad had the same problem.. then he threw that car away.. ahaha.. good luck

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jweller &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">in that pic of the bleeder screw, the green plug just below the bleeder is the fan temp switch. check and see if that is bad, most likely it is if the fans don't turn on execpt with the A/C</TD></TR></TABLE>

If that switch is bad can i just buy a new one from pep boys or something? thx ill try that!

 

anyone?

 

It's the fan sensor. The fan should be going on automatically. Try turing on the A/C and see if both fans are working.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Thrillhouse &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If that switch is bad can i just buy a new one from pep boys or something?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Well, did you test to see if it was bad? I've never seen them except at a dealer or some mailorder place like Manchester Honda.

 

I would imagine you can get that part at pepboys, almost definately at napa. it's only like $25 from http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Thrillhouse &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

If that switch is bad can i just buy a new one from pep boys or something? thx ill try that! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Just go to honda and pick up a new fan switch. You have two fan switches, one that turns the fan on at a lower engine temp, sounds like that one has gone bad. That was the one that went bad on my car. My car would overheat in stop-and-go traffic, but it would go down once I started moving.