Overheating. HAs me stumped

mrplow123456 · 10-25-2008

Alright so the other day I was sitting in a parking lot with my car on listening to music and happened to look down and noticed my temp was hot, hotter then usual that is. I read around bc this is the first cooling problem I ever had and found that maybe the fan wasnt working.

I check one time and it wasn't on so I tried replacing the relay with another one. Then it came on. then I switched the relays again and it came on again. Now I just went for about a 3 hr drive and no cooling issues. It wasactually running cooler then normal maybe by a few degrees but still. I sat in a parking lot letting my car run and it startedheating up again. This time the fan was running. I have talked to plenty of people and they are stumped. Even the mechanics I've talked to.

Any suggestions? Its not realy a big deal if it only heats up in a paring lot. But this may lead to other problems. Thanks in Advance.

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greeen01civic4d · 10-25-2008

have u checked ur thermostat, a partially closed/open thermostat will act like this

mrplow123456 · 10-25-2008

I eliminated the possiblity of th thermostat bc When Im riving it reman cool. from what I understand a faulty thermostat would cause overheat problems either at random or just all the time. I also tried to check by making sure the coolant was cycling around by feeling both rad hoses and both were warm. Maybe its weird and stops working when I sit. The other thing too is that with a bad thermostat wouldnt it take a while for the car cool once i start moving again? As soon as air starts flowing thru the car, as in me moving, it cools almost instantly.

greeen01civic4d · 10-25-2008

right, if it was half open, it could cause this, half open, half closed, blocking proper flow at idle, then waterpump kicks in when driving, sending more coolant through, its my only thought

mrplow123456 · 10-25-2008

Alright Ill have my mechanic check it out but i didnt wanna have anyone do it bc i dont have a lot o money. I may just get some buddies to do it. Any other thoughts if that doesnt solve it?

Cleft_Asunder · 10-25-2008

Dude, it's most likely your thermostat. Or thermo switch but you said your fan kicks in so it's not that.

mrplow123456 · 12-10-2008

UPDATE: Just replaced my thermo and the heating issue not only went away but it only takes about 2 - 3 mins to heat up now. Thanks a lot everyone. Another problem I had was so that my car wouldn't overheat, I would let it run til it got hot then shut my car off. But when I went to turn my car on, the battery would be dead. I bought a new Optima and loving it. No more problems and the battery lasts twice as long when I run it dry. Hopefully this helps everyone.

greeen01civic4d · 12-10-2008

glad it worked out!

gearbox · 12-10-2008

yeah i need to do thermostat too. my car is starting to take much longer to warm up.

chocosteve · 03-03-2009

Awesome, you were having the exact same problems as my Civic is having. Hopefully just a thermostat will be the nice and inexpensive fix I am looking for. Thanks!

mrplow123456 · 03-03-2009

Hopefully that is all you need. Just make sure after you replace the thermostat that you top off your antifreeze and remove all air bubbles from your coolant. If you don't, it is possible to have problems that seem worse then before you replace the thermostat. Good Luck.