Honda Car Forum

I have a 95 Accord with 70,000 miles on it.

The temp gauge usually runs about a quarter of the way up from cold, now
for some strange reason the gauge stays right on the blue (cool) part of
the gauge.

I just noticed it doing this 2 wks ago, I live in Florida so I always
keep an eye on the temp gauge in the summer, especially while in stop
and go traffic.

Sometimes it will barely move above blue area to the line but thats it.
If I turn the heater on it drops all the way down below the blue area
and it blows out *warm* not *hot* air so this rules out a bad sending
unit.

Does anyone know what could be causing the engine to run so cool?

Also, no work or preventive maintenance has been performed on the engine
recently that might some how cause this problem.

It seems your thermostat is stuck open. Cheap part to buy, but I don't
know how easy it is to replace on on your car.

Ron wrote:
>
> I have a 95 Accord with 70,000 miles on it.
>
> The temp gauge usually runs about a quarter of the way up from cold, now
> for some strange reason the gauge stays right on the blue (cool) part of
> the gauge.
>
> I just noticed it doing this 2 wks ago, I live in Florida so I always
> keep an eye on the temp gauge in the summer, especially while in stop
> and go traffic.
>
> Sometimes it will barely move above blue area to the line but thats it.
> If I turn the heater on it drops all the way down below the blue area
> and it blows out *warm* not *hot* air so this rules out a bad sending
> unit.
>
> Does anyone know what could be causing the engine to run so cool?
>
> Also, no work or preventive maintenance has been performed on the engine
> recently that might some how cause this problem.

Ron wrote:
> I have a 95 Accord with 70,000 miles on it.
>
> The temp gauge usually runs about a quarter of the way up from cold, now
> for some strange reason the gauge stays right on the blue (cool) part of
> the gauge.
>
> I just noticed it doing this 2 wks ago, I live in Florida so I always
> keep an eye on the temp gauge in the summer, especially while in stop
> and go traffic.
>
> Sometimes it will barely move above blue area to the line but thats it.
> If I turn the heater on it drops all the way down below the blue area
> and it blows out *warm* not *hot* air so this rules out a bad sending
> unit.
>
> Does anyone know what could be causing the engine to run so cool?
>
> Also, no work or preventive maintenance has been performed on the engine
> recently that might some how cause this problem.

======================

The manual says your rad should be full to the top, and the reservoir
full to the MAX mark. Have you checked your oil lately, while you're
under the hood?

Reply to group. 'Curly'

++++++++++++++++++++++

Randolph wrote:
>It seems your thermostat is stuck open.
> Cheap part to buy, but I don't know how
> easy it is to replace on on your car.

Thats what I was thinking, but in the 30 yrs that I have been working on
cars I've never heard of that. I've had plenty get stuck shut, but never
had one stuck open. You would think that the spring would close it.

motsco wrote:
>The manual says your rad should be full
> to the top, and the reservoir full to the
> MAX mark. Have you checked your oil
> lately, while you're under the hood?

Both are full, that was the first thing that I checked. And yes, my oil
is fine. : )

Ron wrote:
>
> Randolph wrote:
> >It seems your thermostat is stuck open.
> > Cheap part to buy, but I don't know how
> > easy it is to replace on on your car.
>
> Thats what I was thinking, but in the 30 yrs that I have been working on
> cars I've never heard of that. I've had plenty get stuck shut, but never
> had one stuck open. You would think that the spring would close it.

A few years ago the engine on my brother's VW would never reach normal
operating temp and there was very little heat from the heater. New
thermostat fixed the problem. The old one wasn't literally stuck open,
but it opened way to early.

BigELilE@webtv.net (Ron) spake unto the masses in news:16916-40C644EE-
30@storefull-3194.bay.webtv.net:

> Randolph wrote:
>>It seems your thermostat is stuck open.
>> Cheap part to buy, but I don't know how
>> easy it is to replace on on your car.
>
> Thats what I was thinking, but in the 30 yrs that I have been working on
> cars I've never heard of that. I've had plenty get stuck shut, but never
> had one stuck open. You would think that the spring would close it.
>



They get "stuck" open all the time. The spring gets weak and opens too
soon.

Make sure your coolant is topped up, both in the reservoir AND in the rad.

Check your heater output. Is it poor? In Florida at this time of year your
heater should be able to put out scorching heat.

How many minutes do you have to drive before the transmisison is willing to
upshift into overdrive/4th?

--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda FAQ
http://www3.telus.net/public/johnings/faq.html

How to find anything on the Internet or in Usenet Groups:
www.google.com
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"Ron" <BigELilE@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:16915-40C621D8-314@storefull-3194.bay.webtv.net...
> I have a 95 Accord with 70,000 miles on it.


Thermostats can fail stuck open. The one on my Volvo did so about a year
ago.

John

>Tegger wrote:

>>BigELilE@webtv.net (Ron) wrote:

>>>Randolph wrote:

>>>It seems your thermostat is stuck open.
>>>*Cheap part to buy, but I don't know how
>>>*easy it is to replace on on your car.

>>Thats what I was thinking, but in the 30 yrs
>>that I have been working on cars I've never heard
>>of that. I've had plenty get stuck shut, but never
>>had one stuck open. You would think that the spring
>>would close it.

>They get "stuck" open all the time. The spring gets
>weak and opens too soon.

A question: How come the temp NEVER gets up to operating temp, even
after driving for 30 mins in 95 degree weather? (Stop and go traffic in
Fla.) The water/coolant should eventually get to operating temp because
the thermostat (supposedly) is stuck open.

>Make sure your coolant is topped up, both in the
>reservoir AND in the rad.

Did that. That was the first thing that I checked. : )

>Check your heater output. Is it poor? In Florida at
>this time of year your heater should be able to
>put out scorching heat.

As stated in my OP, the heater only gets warm, therefore, ruling out the
sending unit.

>How many minutes do you have to drive before the
>transmission is willing to upshift into overdrive/4th?

The engine goes into OD right away, always has, the engine temp doesn't
matter. Now, I once owned a 83 Celica that won't go into OD until the
engine got to operating temp, but not my Accord.

I also own a 88 Toyota Supra that doesn't have to heat up before going
into OD.

Randolph <trash@junkmail.com> wrote in message news:<40C63BFC.794648E7@junkmail.com>...
> It seems your thermostat is stuck open. Cheap part to buy, but I don't
> know how easy it is to replace on on your car.
>
> Ron wrote:
> >
> > I have a 95 Accord with 70,000 miles on it.
> >
> > The temp gauge usually runs about a quarter of the way up from cold, now
> > for some strange reason the gauge stays right on the blue (cool) part of
> > the gauge.
> >
> > I just noticed it doing this 2 wks ago, I live in Florida so I always
> > keep an eye on the temp gauge in the summer, especially while in stop
> > and go traffic.
> >
> > Sometimes it will barely move above blue area to the line but thats it.
> > If I turn the heater on it drops all the way down below the blue area
> > and it blows out *warm* not *hot* air so this rules out a bad sending
> > unit.
> >
> > Does anyone know what could be causing the engine to run so cool?
> >
> > Also, no work or preventive maintenance has been performed on the engine
> > recently that might some how cause this problem.


I finally got around to checking the thermostat today and it is not
stuck open.When I took it out, it was closed. So I tested it several
times in a pot of boiling water on the stove and it opens and shuts
without any problem. Any other thoughts on what could be causing the
problem.