ok ill try that spraying water thing when i have time. i dont have a digital thermo so i wont be able to do that. but i dont think anything is wrong internally only because of the fact that when the a/c is off my temp is completely fine.

im starting to notice it would start giving that overheating symptoms when i turn my a/c off for like 10 minutes or however long it takes for me to turn it back on once im already on the road, then once its on and i get to a stop light etc itll start giving the symptoms. idk if im making any sense lol. its so hard to explain this stupid problem..

 

so im thinking, should i just try and change the sending unit then? or no? connections look fine, i ran through as far as i could fir wiring and everything seems fine...

 

As has been mentioned, the sensors have nothing to do with the overheating, unless the ECT sending unit, [for gauge] is bad and giving wrong info, or the gauge itself is bad.

You need to test temp. at thermostat housing with a heat gun, [borrow or rent one] to confirm temp. is actually going up, if it is, I would look at the water pump as the problem, also keep in mind if you have a full size rad and condensor, with A/C on the condensor will get hot, the air flowing through the condensor will get hot before it flows through the rad, lessening it's cooling effect, more air flow when car is moving solves that problem.

Also 3/4 of the way on the temp gauge is not overheating, FYI. 94

 

Remove the thermostat and run without it. See if it overheats. If it overheats still its likely your water pump is bad.

 

In my experience it will overheat without a thermostat at idle..

 

Do you even know what the purpose of a thermostat is ?

A car will never ever overheat at idle with a thermostat taken out when it was not overheating with the same thermostat inside of it. Period.

 

Sounds like ive been running a bad water pump for the last 5 years...
same thermostat and water pump..
I just took the thermostat out to see how things reacted and it started to overheat. I put that same thermostat back in and issue went away!..

You need a restriction for the cooling system to work right.. PERIOD!
just the coolant flowing through the engine constantly isn't going to work as good because there isn't time for the heat transfer from engine to coolant.. With a restriction this because more efficient.

I don't recall having any fan issues.. Now this could have been my issue just cant remember..

 

Yeah nice lie there. Thats completely and totally bullshit.

I'm still waiting for you to tell me what the purpose of a thermostat is and while you're at it, what happens when one fails open, as Honda thermostats are designed to do.

When you do that you will find that what you said happened, couldn't possibly have happened.

 

I thought I typed this...The engine started to overheat at idle.. while driving it was running cold as hell in open loop and I know it wasnt reaching operating temperature but it was a test..

Automobile thermostat controls coolant flow via coolant temperature.
Same as the one for your air conditioner.... but for air.
When one fails to open the water will not leave the head and go to the radiator.. then the engine will overheat..

Without a thermostat constant flow occurs.. water temps will be cooler but the engine will be running out of its designed operating temperature and could cause damage.. How will you know if the head is truly starting to overheat.

 

It looks like you just copied that from somewhere online and it makes more sense that had to try to figure out a way to respond to me since you obviously lied about your car overheating when you removed the thermostat because you've heard other people saying that that is what happens.

I don't need to look anything up since I already know what it does.

A thermostat is designed to maintain a "minimum" operating temperature and to help warm the car up as quickly as possible, both to help emissions and fuel economy by opening up after a set minimum temperature.

It does this by being closed to not allow cooler coolant to flow from the radiator to the engine. At opening temperature the thermostat starts opening up and about 15 degrees later the thermostat is fully open and allows coolant to travel through the system, more specifically from the radiator to the engine.

The cooling fan system is designed to turn on when the thermostat is fully open to help maintain a "maximum" temperature in the system.

When you remove the thermostat, all you're doing is acting like the thermostat is fully open all the time. As a result, there will never be a minimum operating temperature and for those that have had a Honda thermostat suck open will note that the system is much more cooler than if it was working properly. The car will never overheat, provided the cars cooling fans are working as they otherwise would be.

I know you've heard people say that not having a thermostat would cause a car to overheat but that couldn't be any further from the truth and defies all logic, common sense, and actual science.

I'm not sure why you would think that not having a thermostat would cause the radiator not to be able to cool the coolant. It already does that with the thermostat all the way open and unless somehow something is magically manifesting itself inside the radiator and blocking the coolant from being in there next to the fins somehow when you remove it it's really unfathomable that you would believe that.

 

ummmm. .. how about when the temperature gauge starts going up? That's why they stick the gauge directly into the head. And the cooling jackets/head are designed to try to stay full even when coolant otherwise in the system is low to alert you when the system is getting too hot.

You seem to be confusing "removing the thermostat" with "removing all coolant".

 

 

Not sure why you quoted that but i will now note that no damage will occur to an engine that is simply running colder than it should.

 

I took a look at an extra head that I have lying around and I did notice it was recessed to hold coolant in case of low coolant.. I completely get that the engine runs cooler and agree on everything with you up to the part about the head overheating....In my situation I had took the thermostat out and drove around. I found that at cruising speed it was exceptionally cooler and when I got to a red light it would start to get warmer and warmer... I just don't remember having a fan out but that would make sense....