Honda - Accord :: Overheating After A Trip Of About An Hour - Temp Gauge Needle Going Way Up
Oct 7, 2013
After a trip of about an hour to the Fryeburg Fair yesterday I noticed my temperature gauge needle was going way up. I was able to park my car and went to the fair for about 4-5 hours. Before we left I checked the coolant level as the car had cooled off enough to take the cap off. The coolant right to the top and was green. I checked my oil level and that was fine. On the way home my son suggested that I turn the heat on. I did so and the temp gauge went down to normal and stayed that way all the way back home to Lewiston, Maine. I'm thinking it might be the thermostat but thought I would for any other possible reasons my car is doing this. The car has about 216,000 miles and I did have the thermostat replaced a couple of years ago.....???
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Well, I'm still driving the same old 1998 Honda Civic DX two-door coupe, and I've got a problem with overheating. The temperature gauge needle doesn't get quite to the red, but it's popping up higher than usual, and I'm concerned to see it getting anywhere near the red. It usually spikes when I get off the highway and stop at a light, but it also does it occasionally in a drive thru, and recently, I discovered that when I give it a little gas in neutral, it brings the temperature gauge needle down to normal.
Here is the history of recent repairs and troubleshooting:
-About 3-4 years ago, I had a leaky radiator replaced, so the one that is in there isn't very old.
-Last year I had a mechanic replace the thermostat, the radiator fan, and the radiator cap when I started having this problem.
-A few months ago, I had the timing belt serviced (the entire kit, not just the belt), but since the water pump looked fine and the car has so much mileage (275,000 miles), I opted not to replace the water pump. (I regret that now. I usually replace the water pump with every other timing belt, but I've learned my lesson.)-I've been to several shops to get a diagnosis, but they have a hard time getting it to overheat at all, so they can't diagnose it.
One guy suggested the water pump might be worn out (inside, without leaking outside). Another guy suggested that "if it was the water pump, you would know it's the water pump." Each mechanic has done a pressure test on the cooling system and a flow test on the radiator, and they all say they are fine. One mechanic theorized that I might have a very small head gasket leak, but nobody else thinks that is the case and there is no sign of coolant and oil mixing. Besides, the temperature gauge has never been in the red.
-One mechanic who tried to diagnose the problem recommended replacing the plugs, plug wires, rotor, and distributor cap. After doing that, it is running better than it was, but that didn't resolve the overheating problem. He also retarded the spark timing, but it is self-adjusting, so it re-advances itself after a couple days of driving. I can hear what sounds like minor knocking, but it's always made that noise since it was new.
-Everyone who has tried to diagnose the problem says the thermostat is opening and closing as it should, and the radiator fan comes on and shuts off when it should.
I'm done getting second and third opinions, and I'm ready to start throwing parts at it. Do you think I should start with the water pump? What are your thoughts? Don't tell me to replace the car. I just bought a new motorcycle.
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The other night I passed a car overheating (Subaru) and checked my temp gauge and saw my needle was gradually climbing towards the half mark. This is not normal for my 96 Honda Accord. No lights coming on, so I blasted the heater and needle immediately returned to it's normal position. Filled the coolant, it was low, but the problem remains if the heater isn't turned on to at least 3. This doesn't seem extreme enough to be the thermostat. Could my fan be out?
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My 1991 Nissan 240SX (only 85K miles!) has an intermittent overheating problem that began last November. Needle usually right in middle, but occasionally would quickly rise to danger zone. In Nov., I got new radiator and pump, as well as all new spark plugs. Was OK for about 3 months, then started overheating occasionally. In shop a day and a half while they tried to find the cause. Gave me a new thermostat. Then test showed there was a leak in head gasket. Instead of expensive repairs, I put 8-oz bottle of K-Seal in cooling system. Reviews all over the web gave me confidence it would seal all leaks. But within 5 minutes, it overheated. Tried again later, same result.
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98 accord v6, when we first got it about a year ago the temp gauge was a little erratic. Sometimes it would stay all the way down (cold) after driving for awhile. You can take your finger and thump the plastic and it would jump up to normal. At first it was only temp, but now all gauges including gas level are not working. Odometer still works right but the speedo goes to about 45 and stays there. Thumping still makes the needles bounce around.
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My 1994 honda accord station wagons cooling fan is working but the temp gauge still goes all the way up then back to normal numerous times while driving.. I park on the side of the road while the car is on, pop the hood to check and see any signs of over heating but the motor seems to be normal.. What could be happening??
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I have a '93 Ford Tempo 2.3 liter with a/c ....it OVERHEATS ... love the car, but when I sit in traffic, the temp needle goes up almost to the redline, I have to shut the car off .... it happens all year round ... if I'm driving up a hill the temp starts climbing, if I turn the heat OFF the temp climbs, in summer when I put A/C on the temp climbs ... I've put 3 Thermostats in, a new Water Pump, there are NO leaks in Radiator, I've replaced Hoses ... no I'm not a mechanic, I've brought it to garages ... other than the overheating issue it's a good lil car, uses maybe 1 QT of oil every other month ... when I lived in SC had the same car....SAME PROBLEM...had a 1995 Windstar that did the same thing, replaced radiators etc nobody could figure it out, or didn't want to....what is it with Fords!
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I have a 2005 Elantra GLS with a couple thousand miles over 100K. There is what appears to be an overheating issue with my car. When I'm driving it in city driving usually less than 45 MPH, the heater blows cold air. However, on the highway (greater than 50 MPH) it blows hot air and the temp needle stays in the normal range (just below the halfway point between hot and cold and more towards the cold). However, when I slow down and come to city speeds, the temp needle starts to rise and the heater blows cold air.
The needle went to the red zone this morning but as soon as it got to the red zone, it slowly came back down to the normal point (within 2-3 seconds). And @ the same time, the heater started blowing warm/hot air like it would be functioning normally. When the needle got the red zone, my car didn't stop or I didn't see smoke coming from the hood or anything like. It was almost like something (maybe thermostat) tripped and allowed the engine to cool.
After doing some research on this, the potential issues point to thermostat, coolant level, radiator crack. I haven't checked how the coolant level is doing but I will check that this weekend.
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I have a 2004 Grand Prix and it is displaying the symptoms of overheating but the temp gauge is not going above normal operating temp. I replaced the thermostat twice, and after driving for about 10-20 mins coolant comes out of the overflow. I'm at a loss, I'm thinking temp sensor(?) But I don't want to keep throwing unnecessary money into it. The fans work fine, the heater blows as it should.
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After about a 5 mile drive my '05 6 cyl Santa Fe always smells hot. The temp gauge needle always stays mid point. Coolant is good and is changed regularly. No oil in coolant or coolant in oil. No cracks in recovery bottle or hoses. All hoses tight, has been pressure tested and is ok. No heater core leak, no visible leaks anywhere in the engine compartment or under the car and no green patches on the radiator. After about a week of driving the recovery bottle level is down about 3/4" but the radiator is full to the neck. Where the coolant is going and how to locate the source?
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I have a RPM gauge that has seemingly done the impossible. Instead of resting on the peg at '0,' it is now underneath it. Effectively, it no longer registers any RPM because of its location. I wish I had seen how this happened.
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So my civic has 167,000 miles on it. I have replaced the thermostat and radiator but the mechanics are stumped. The problem is when I am driving on the highway for about an hour or longer (I live in the mountains, so this is not easy driving) and when I come back into town and get stuck at a red light, the temperature in the car starts to slowly rise. I have never let it fully overheat.
When the temperature is high, I have turned on the heat and it has come out cold. I have opened the hood as the temp is high and there is nothing leaking that I can tell. It feels hot/smells hot but I can't figure it out. The reserve tank has fluid in it, but I cannot see inside the radiator to see if there is fluid in it. This problem has been happening for about 6-7 months, so I just try not to drive it outside of town anymore. When I am driving around town, it does not seem to have an issue.
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A friend has a 2005 Honda Civic with approximately 120,000 miles that she just bought the end of 2013. The car was kept immaculate by the previous owner. This week as she was driving, she said the temperature needle suddenly went all the way to H. Earlier in the day, she had noticed the A/C was not consistently cool but didn't think much of it as there were no other problems with the car. When the temp needle suddenly went to H, she shut off the a/c and before she could pull over the temp needle went back to normal. She checked the coolant level which was very low and she took it to the dealer who ran multiple tests including checking the thermostat, cylinder compression tests, etc but they could find nothing wrong. I keep telling her there is a reason it did that and that coolant doesn't just disappear and that I think she should take it back.
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I've had this checked out twice by the dealer and once by another mechanic and they say there's nothing wrong ....
First symptom: the heater will start out hot but about a half-hour into my trip into work it significantly cools down. I'm not sure if it's starting out too hot and cooling down appropriately but I think not ... it gets downright cool at 70 degrees.
Second symptom: I sometimes smell coolant in the passenger compartment, usually while I'm operating the heater. However, in these last bitter cold days I've smelled it when I get into my cold car in the garage in the morning.
Third symptom: I have a film on the inside of my windshield on the lower one-sixth or so ... it gets very cloudy, particularly when I circulate air to the windshield or turn on the AC to defog. I've asked three times to have the heater core checked and they all say it's fine.
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I have a 95 Honda Accord V6, the D4 light is flashing and the speedometer needle does not work. When in stop and go traffic, the needle bounces around and makes the car stall and downshift and rev up. I replaced the speed sensor with no change.
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This weekend I was one a trip in my '98 Civic, and I noticed some movement in my temperature gauge. It didn't really overheat; the needle never got near the red, but it did go a little higher than usual.
Normally, once the engine heats up, the needle on the temperature gauge doesn't move, not even a little. It sits right under the squiggly lines on the temperature gauge icon. However, on Friday, when I got off the highway, the needle rose into the upper part of the icon, to the part with the thermometer.
As soon as the car started moving, the needle on the temperature gauge went back to its normal spot, so I assumed it was a problem with the radiator fan and I kept on driving, prepared to turn on the heat if the needle on the temperature gauge started going up.
Saturday morning I took the car to a local shop in Jacksonville, and it turns out the engine needed a new fan and a new thermostat.
The first lesson that comes to mind is that keeping an eye on my temp gauge might have saved me an engine. It certainly saved me a head gasket. Since a head gasket or new engine would have been worth more than the car, catching this before it became a problem saved me from having to buy another car.
The next lesson is that my Civic had two things wrong with the cooling system, and yet it barely showed any symptoms. The air conditioner doesn't work I guess since a working A/C would probably have made it overheat. In any case, I've probably been driving without a working radiator fan for some time.
The final lesson is that if I had tried to diagnose this myself, I'd probably be driving around with a new radiator fan and a bad thermostat. I paid about $435 for a new fan, thermostat, and fresh coolant (I declined the cooling system flush) and it was worth every penny.
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2.5 months ago I had a coolant flush in my 2007 explorer Eddie Bauer. The last 3 days last week the temp gauge went from the middle where it usually sits, to maxed out in the red. Stays there for about 45 secs and then drops back down.
Is it coincidence that I had a flush and maybe they didn't fill it all the way back up or is it somthing else ?
One other thing- even when it sits in the middle of the gauge I can sometimes hear the engine sucking in air like a vacuum so I guess at certain times its running hot but just doesn't raise the gauge just yet.
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My 01 passat is telling me to check my coolant when it's working fine and its not overheating I think it might just be a sensor because my check engine light is on and it's reading thermostat.
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My sister has a 2004 gli 1.8t with 65k. The temperature gauge says its overheating, the cel is on, but the car appears to run fine, the fluid levels are appear to be fine, and you cant see any leaks. Her fiance thinks its water pump issues...
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I got my 2003 Mini Cooper out of the shop about 3 weeks ago.. They replaced the damper, the serpentine belt, thermostat, coolant gasket seal, rear rotors/breaks, bleeding of the breaks, and inner cv boot. Noted to get the oil pan gasket replace which i planned on doing in the upcoming week when i got an oil change but they put beside it was light leakage. All Power Steering was redone under a recall warranty mid July.
Yesterday earlier that morning my battery light came on but than proceeded to try off by the time i was back home. I drive my car in the afternoon, i notice that my battery light is on and continued to stay on. Then my temperature gauge goes all the way up. i open the hood, its nothing noticeably different. I sit there for quite some time and i drive it again to see if it would overheat. I drove about 3 miles to my in-laws and the car no longer overheated. I decide to drive it down to the AutoZone to check my battery and she tells me it weak to leave the car running to see if it recharges but thinks something pulling on the battery. (the battery is new barely over a year old) During the drive to the autozone and back to my mother in laws the car doesn't overheat but the battery light remains on. I leave the car running in the driveway a bit later i notice the car is smoking, literally hear the antifreeze boil in the car,antifreeze is all over the ground, and the temperature gauge is running hot but the cars fan was not running.
i'm not sure if these problems are connected but i never had either of these problems prior to get it worked on. My car has always started strong. The alternator could be going but all lights, electronics,door-locks, windows, heated seat are working. Furthermore, the car starts so strong every time, haven't had any symptoms of a bad alternator.I read it could be a belt issue but the belt and damper are newly replaced.
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I have a 2003 vr6 with about 60,000 miles on it and it overheats. I can drive between 35-40 mph and make short trips no problem but when going any faster or accelerate faster than an old lady in a buick, the temp gauge slowly rises(or fast if i accelerate fast.) Until the "stop, check coolant" warning comes on(which i don't let get to that point.) it blows heat all the time, all the hoses get hot, I am no professional by any means but i have dealt with many different overheating issues with other vehicles but I am kind of stumped at what to try first so i don't end up replacing something that doesn't need to be because i do not have the extra $ to do so. The problem started when someone put dirt in my coolant, I flushed out the system twice, the second was just to see if anything else had loosened up that I may have missed the first time..
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