if i was driving around low on coolant, could that hurt my thermostat?

It all started out about a week and half ago... I noticed some coolant splattered in the engine bay, and i thought i fixed the problem. The upper hose clamp was a little loose and a real small amount of coolant was squeezing by little by little and built up on the fan shroud and then the fan threw it around when engaging. I tightened things up and then cleaned everything up, and no coolant was really found again, BUT i'm still loosing coolant. Thats one of my problems.

Another problem (i'm guessing related) is that I'm seeing low engine temperatures even after the engine should be warmed up. I read it can have to do with me having a CAI and the very cold weather, or possibly that my thermostat is going bad. My radiator fan does go on though, even when the temp gauge read close to cold. My dual core DOHC del sol radiator is only from august 02, could the bottom endtank be cracked already even though i haven't gotten into any accidents? Its real hard to check b/c of all the dirty water and snow on the roads, but i dont see any extra coolant on the lower bumper guard.

My 3rd problem (don't think its related) is I have a blown fuse somewhere i think from installing LEDs into my cluster. The blown fuse resulted in my parking lights and gauge cluster not going on when i turn the **** to the middle position. However, the parking lights turn on when signaling, along with the arrows in my cluster. My headlights turn on when i turn the **** all the way, but the parking lights still stay off. The break lights work fine. Flashers work fine also, and the parking lights still blink when i hit the alarm button.

That fuse being blown wouldn't effect the temperature gauge would it? The gauge does move from below cold to a little above, so i would say no. Let me know otherwise. I looked in the Chilton manual and didn't really learn anything...does anyone know which fuse i might have blown?

So would a radiator leak not let the engine heat up properly, or is it more likely that the low coolant at some point damaged the thermostat and now its not reading properly?

thank you very much for any info.
-ROB

 

oh yeah, and most of the people saying they had temp reading problems said theirs fluctuated from cold to wamer, but mine just stays near cold, and hasn't risen to near warm in a couple days.

 

bumped, i need it

 

bumped again. sorry its so long.

 

I have the same thing. Cold air intake and brand spanking new dual core radiator. My temp. gauge almost never goes about 1/4 of the way up in this cold weather. Even after a 2hr trip cruising at 75mph.

 

Is the blown fuse causing the fans to turn on? I would also replace the thermostat AND the radiator cap. They are cheap and either of those two items can be causing the problem.

 

get your system pressure tested if u can't find the leak. i would think that the thermostat is designed to fail in the open position so the coolant will still run through the motor. as long as its not getting hot there is no problem. recheck your led install and make sure u didnt touch any wires that were not supposed to be and check the fuse. if the fuse is still good then thats something a little deper then i know of.

 

the LEDs draw less current than the stock bulbs. My nitrous solenoids draw A LOT of current, but they're working fine. wish it was better weather outside so i could check things out. Think i'm gonna order the thermostat anyways. Right now i'm going to take a ride using my roomates radiator cap, see if that changes things.

 

I have seen a lot of people blow fuses due to the ilumination wire grounding out from when they installed an aftermarket stereo.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by yellow_jacket &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have seen a lot of people blow fuses due to the ilumination wire grounding out from when they installed an aftermarket stereo.</TD></TR></TABLE>

"illumination wire grounding out"...what does that mean? is that a specific wire or just the one that gives its display(the lights) its power?

thanks

EDIT: after using my roomates rad cap, the problem didn't change, the temp still stayed near cold the whole time. However, after putting my rad cap (spoon) back on and driving some more, the temp went back to normal. I'll have to see if it goes crazy again. If so, i'll just get the thermostat.

 

did that really fix it do u think its the raditor cap casue i have the same problem, i got a stock oem 92-95 lip btw pm me if u still want one

 

well, i drove it a second time and it warmed up regularly. not sure what the problem was/is. it could be that the thermostat "destuck" itself, lol. i dunno right now. i'll hafta see if the problem comes back. i also think my coolant has leveled out, now that i filled it a second time. Possibly the slow leak i had earlier from the upper rad hose clamp being loose, might have drained more coolant than i thought so when i filled the resovior midway between low and high, it actually took more to fill the rest of the system, making it appear to be losing coolant when it was actually still in the system. my coolant loss problem and temp problem might be solved as of right now. i'm gonna order a thermo anyways, just b/c its so cheap and hasn't been done in a long time.

yeah, i do still want a lip. PM me ASAP b/c i'm gonna order honda parts tomorrow and that might go on the list.

 

ok, there was a blown fuse. fixed that, so now all my lighting works. as for the temperature, its gotta be the thermostat. i'm gonna install it next week.

its just weird how i never have any car troubles and all this happened the same day.

 

still trying to work on the fuse problem.....

replaced it and thought everything was fine. figured it was just coincidence that it blew same time as everything else went. It must have to do with the LEDs. Its a 10a fuse, i replaced it with a 15a and it still blew. Is it safe to use a 20a fuse where a 10a should normally be? not sure if the 20 will hold up, but i'll hafta check. If the 20 doesn't hold i'm gonna hafta talk to the LED place and see whats up. aparently they only draw like 1/3 as much power as the stock bulbs.

 

UPDATE: still need advice. I changed the thermostat and the problem is still there. Almost all of the time the engine stays just above the cold mark...occassionally it warms up to normal temperature in normal time...and sometimes it'll reach normal temperature but after a very long trip. And its not the radiator cap.

Could it be the "SWITCH ASSY., THERMO (A-93) (UCHIYA)"? Thats what hondaautomotiveparts calls it. Its the bolt with a sensor at the end which screws into the thermostat housing. It has 1green and 1black wire coming from it.

Or could it be the other sensor near there, that points directly down and looks like it screws into the tranny case? Some coolant spilt on it while draining the system to change the thermo. Any idea of the name of the part i'm talking about.

Also, the radiator fan is not kicking on. However, it does do it sometimes. It might only do it when the engine reaches normal temp. I can't see if thats the case b/c it doesn't happen very often.

thanks for any info.
I want to get this problem fixed to i can start autoXing asap.
-rob


Modified by sol2nr at 5:08 PM 2/19/2004

 

anyone? TIA