Problem: Accord Overheating?!

Hey guys,

I drove the 30ish km downtown today and then started looking for parking. I spent a good 30-45 minutes driving around in stop-and-go traffic (cuz of the Breast Cancer run today?) and suddenly noticed that the car's 'Temperature Meter' was at the red line. I have no idea how long it was like that for. I turned off the car to let it cool, opened up the hood and checked the radiator fluid level, which seemed ok (or maybe slightly below the MIN line in the clear radiator bottle). My Accord usually never even reaches HALF on that meter...

Apparently this same thing happened about 2 years back with my Dad when he was in TO - when he was in stop-and-go traffic also, but hasn't happened since. He kind of ignored it/ forgot about it.

I turned the car off, went and did my thing for the day, and then came back to my car and drove home (always watching the meter this time around). It stayed at it's normal level the entire way.

What could this be? Any ideas? First thing I thought of was that it might ne low on radiator fluid - but it doesn't appear that it is. Oil and all that should be fine too. The fact that I was able to drive the 30km home, going relatively fast on the highway (120-140... at the speed of traffic), and I even turned the AC on for awhile and stuff to see if it made a difference -- and nothing happened. If anyone has seen this kind of intermittant problem on their Hondas, please let me know. I'm about to take it to the garage but i want to have an idea what it might be - i've had some baddd experiences with crooked/dumbass mechanics recently.

Thanks!

check ur fluid in th rad cap not in the bottle that bottle is just the overflow incase the pressure gets to much it lets it seep into the overflow, dont have the car on for like 15 mins pull the rad cap off see if the coolant is at the brim of the rad, if not fill till it cannot be filled no more (do not fill the rad overflow bottle) that should be the problem, then check once in a while to see if it is gone down if so u have a leak somewhere.(never open rad cap under 15 minutes of car being on)

I wouldnt worry about it. Look for leaks, and if there are none then just fill up your cap again and call it a day.

Your car probably just got hot from the outside air temp and from your engine running without moving (which would make your engine bay hot). So yea, just refill it and watch the meter when you drive it (not like hawk, but look down as often as you would to check your speed)

If the problem persists or you want to take the extra precausion, maybe replace the thermostat and do a coolant flush/bleed.

MontrealTECH said:

I wouldnt worry about it. Look for leaks, and if there are none then just fill up your cap again and call it a day.

Your car probably just got hot from the outside air temp and from your engine running without moving (which would make your engine bay hot). So yea, just refill it and watch the meter when you drive it (not like hawk, but look down as often as you would to check your speed)

If the problem persists or you want to take the extra precausion, maybe replace the thermostat and do a coolant flush/bleed.

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Thanks for the reply guys.

The car's got 162,xxx km on it. I spoke to someone today who told me that the Thermostat is generally changed after 150,000km? Is that right? Mine has never been changed. And you mentioned the Thermostat too MontrealTECH... There are no leaks - i've been looking for leaks and there definitely aren't any.

As for the other post, i didn't realize I was looking at the radiator OVERFLOW bottle - that's good to know =) What i don't get is NOT to open the Radiator cap unless the car has been on for 15 minutes? Basically so that it levels off so that it won't spray up at me? Someone I spoke to mentioned that the acidity level of the radiator fluid might be too high and it may need to be flushed / you can add something to fix it up.

I'm getting sick of this car - i've been having too many (small) problems that I want fixed all at once. I need a mechanic familiar with these cars to fix what are apparently some common problems with 1996 Accords that i've got with mine..

- DRL sensor needs changing
- Brakes are making some noise (again, after spending a LOT to get rid of this loud ticking sound recently)
- AC isn't as cold lately
- Had the tints removed - which pulled off the rear defrost lines - so I need the back window changed professionally (because of the rear defrost) at a reasonable price
- Need a general check-up to figure out any/all problems with this thing so that i get it all fixed at once and don't have to worry about the car anymore.

Can you guys recommend a place that won't rip me off?

the thermostate works with temperature so if it is broken it wont open and let the fluid flow threw the sleeves in the block to let it cool down so maybe thats the problem, very possible ( thermo costs bout 25$ and its prolly 15 minutes of work to replace) the reason for not opening the rad cap is because all the fluid is under pressure in the cooling system( under pressure coolant boils at a higher level so its harder for the coolant to boil over and bubble) so if u open it will its under pressure the steam coming out and the fluid spitting out can cause third degree burns,so just wait for teh pressure to go down b4 opening. as for a garage to go to, no clue man. u have to find a good honest place that wont rip u off. good luck though.

speed racer said:

the thermostate works with temperature so if it is broken it wont open and let the fluid flow threw the sleeves in the block to let it cool down so maybe thats the problem, very possible ( thermo costs bout 25$ and its prolly 15 minutes of work to replace) the reason for not opening the rad cap is because all the fluid is under pressure in the cooling system( under pressure coolant boils at a higher level so its harder for the coolant to boil over and bubble) so if u open it will its under pressure the steam coming out and the fluid spitting out can cause third degree burns,so just wait for teh pressure to go down b4 opening. as for a garage to go to, no clue man. u have to find a good honest place that wont rip u off. good luck though.

Click to expand...

k sounds good

If anyone can recommend a garage to fix the problems mentioned above (minus the Thermostat/Heating problem - i think it's just the coolant) - let me know please...

Anyone? =/