Overheating!!!!!!!
I own a 5th gen Accord Vtech. I have to drive 30 mile everyday to work. My car starts with no problem and runs great for first 5 to 6 mile. Then it starts getting heated. The indicator rises up till 75% mark & remains there till I reach my job. As soon as I shut the ignition, the cooling fan kicks off and remains on for about 4 to 5 min and then stops, eating up the battary. But here's the key. Whenever I am driving on slop or ( whenever I release the accelator for few seconds, while driving on a slop) the indicator drops down up to 50 % mark (at which it is suppose to be all the time), but as soon as I step on the accelarator, it starts rising up and goes back up to 75 % mark again. The cooling fan should start as soon as the indicator goes above 50 % mark, but it never does. Has anyone experienced such thing before? I am a novice to this kind of problems. Can anyone help!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Its pretty obvious you dont know the basics of how a cooling system works. Do yourself a favor, with your level or understanding and mechanical skills, dont attempt to fix anything, get the car to your mechanic. You probably seriously f*cked up your car driving all the way to and from work overheating. You didnt learn in highschool driver's ed, "Pull over if you are overheating"? You cooling fan does not cool the car while it moves, the air rushing over the radiator as the car moves is what cools an engine.

 

You've run low of coolant, most likely from a leak in the system somewhere. Continue to drive it like this, and you'll have a mini Mt. Vesuvius going off under your hood when the lack of coolant reaches that critical point

If you've no access to a coolant system pressure tester, get it to a shop that does (and understands Hondas' as well.

P

 

I do get my car checked at Uncle Edd every 2,500 miles, where the mechanic makes sure that the coolent level is porper. Not only he checks it, but also shows it to me. I would like to mention that i don't see this overheating during summer time. I live in michigan and I hope you are probably aware of the winter condition....Does it means anything??

 

I am here to learn .........So instead of laughing, can you help me to undrestand how it works, if you think that you know too much...
It is not that bad as much as you are thinking & I do understant that I have to pull over when my car gets overheated.
Any good solution for very obivious reasons?

 

^im in the same boat as you. and people told me MY culprit MIGHT be a T-stat or a waterpump that is in its stages of dying. sometimes it'll rise to 75% sometimes it'll sit at half. at the moment i have a minor leak aswell,but im just tryna' give you my scenario incase you'd wanna compare situations. btw,im usually in NY or CT and right now both states are pretty brick. check or look to replace those two items. im not much help,but im just tryna' pass on what i can i guess.

 

I would power flush the system and change the t-stat. if there is air in the system, it will cause the car to run hot. I would change the t-stat just to be on the safe side

 

Change thermostat with oem factory part ASAP.

 

when you say powerflush it,where can i do that? i seriously dont wanna do anything myself cause im too inexperienced to expletive around and damage my ****. a DIY step by step would be cool,but perhaps a shop?

 

Backyard power-flushes involve no more than hooking a garden hose to a disconnected heater hose. To do it correctly, pick a spot that reverses the flow (attach your garden hose to the heater inlet hose), it will do a better job.

For those of us in cold(er) climes, who don't Cherish making 16ft Ice Carvings of our daily ride, find a shop with a power flush machine, and enjoy the heated waiting room.

P

 

well i can skip the backyard flushing since my backyard is someones building.

 

Yeah i have experienced this before it was a pain trying to figure it out... heres the story...

My Girlfriends 96 accord would start over heating like your does and her fan would not kick on untill the car was off. and when she was driving she would either need to pull over and turn it off to cool down or turn the AC on so the Fan can cool it a little bit... Long story short

The solution was that it had a bad coolant temperature sensor located by the thermostate houseing on top where the thermostate goes i will try to get a picture tomorrow so you can see where it is located. i think its called (ETC switch) im sure thats the problem because it happend yo my gf car

You can try to change that buy one at pepboys for like 20 dollars and if doesnt do it then return it. i will again post it tomorrow. it is really easy to change all u need is like i think a size 24-26 socket screw out and place new one in.

 

It is the green plug by the Air Bypass valve on the intake (just to point out how ever you ill still see it with stock intake) you will need to replace the sensor not the green plug all you do is unplug it with the engine off and then unscrew it get new one and replace it and you should drive the car around from about 30 min or w/e to see if the fans turn on and doesnt over heat. remeber to have all fans suchs as heating and AC fans off so dont turn on either the AC or Heat so you can hear it turn on or you will see the temp cool.

Let me know how it works out for you (coolant might leak out when sensor is removed)

hope this pictures helps if not then contact me

 

Thank you
I think you have given me the exact solution.
I will let you know if it works.........
Once again thankx for the help.

 

Thank you for you correct suggestion.
Initially I thought the coolent temperature sensor is the culprit, but it was the thermo stat

 

ACCORD IS SLOW


what is the name of this sensor you're telling me to replace? if i go into autozone what ima tell them? a Coolant Temp. sensor?

btw,is the t-stat anywhere in the picture? i been tryna' locate mine lately and no luck. help if you can,or want to.

 

Thunder Cat,

If you look at the Fat Hose At the top of your radiator, that connects to the engine, Right where the hose connects to, the t-stat (thermostat) is under there

Look at the pic to give u an idea ( yours may be differnt looking) but theres 2 bolts holding the thermostat housing on

and the thermostat is under it

 

damn my neck hurts tryna' tilt it and look at the pic. but yeah i THINK i read somewhere that on my accord its somewhere near the lower hose or whatever. i cant recall it %100. i have a 1990 ex auto if that matters at all. thanks for taking the time to help though. if anyone knows for a fact that hes correct OR if hes wrong,PLEASE show me. again thanks for helping

 

i think its called the ECT switch<U></U> do you see where it is located? like i said just unclip the green plug and unbolt the bolt which the bolt is actually a sensor and replace that bolt looking and swap it with the new one. NOTE it is not the one that is on the front of the engine near the radiator it is the one in the back of the engine ontop of the thermostate houseing . they run about 20-30 bucks at pep boys but we just returned the old one lol ;x sorry i didnt reply soon enough and the other dudes engine i dont think will be any easier to look at. because i have an f22 and there are two sensors and the one he is showing is the one on the front of his engine and there is one of those on the f22 but thats not the one where the thermostate housing is.



again it is the ETC Switch!!!!! not the coolant temperature sensor because that one is under the distributer!


Modified by accordisslow at 9:25 AM 12/18/2005

 

the thermostat is located at the end of the LOWER radiator hose, engine side of course ,,there are 2 10mm bolts the hold the housing in place remove those . replace t-stat ,,

 

It is the ECT switch. I just replaced it on mine. However, due to my lack of changing it sooner, I think it may have caused my water pump to prematurely fail (it maybe blew an internal seal and caused the weep hole to open)...

However, maybe it's a blessing in disguise...I bought the car used and never really knew if the timing belt has been changed. To change the water pump you have to remove the timing belt, so yeah.........

Someone mentioned I should do a vacuum, compression and a block test to make sure the engine's still good.......any other tests I should do or have done? I've got a vacuum and compression testers...

 

ACCORD IS SLOW

ECT switch? alright thanks man

anyone can address my question though? yeah i heard my t-stat is connected somewhere towards the end of my lower rad. hose,but i cant find it. probably im riding without one? ****. i really do wish someone can show me a picture of the t-stat ON their f22. btw my sig shows my car incase ya need specs

 

t-stat is on the top of the engine as indicated in the post by standbackimapro it is easy to do provided that it is somewhat warm where you are working.

 

i got a 1990 ex. not to mention i hear too many different opionions. but ima try to check out desert honda's advice. i didnt realize it was him without the greenbay packers or the greenbay's packer! but please can i get a picture anyway? just for my slowness

 

on the 4th gen cars, it's in the same spot.