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Hi,

I know probably this topic has been discussed here thousands of times but I just joined this forum because I googled and I know I might get people who hopefully will help me with this situation.
My lady colleague has given me her Honda Civic 2000 6th generation and has asked me to help her find out what the matter with her car is. The problem is that the temperature gauge is going past the normal half way mark and going up all the way to about 3/4 of the gauge, almost as if it is overheating. What is shocking is that the car stil performs normally and even the fan is working fantastic.

Initially I had thought that the thermostat was the problem but I realised that the thermostat was ok in my opinion since after some time after the engine runs in idle mode, the thermostat switches on the radiator fan.

Anyone ever had a similar problem? Any help on this will be highly appreciated.

 
Rep Power: 368

should be similar for 6th gen too.
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...reference.html

 
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Thanks for the info. I have gone through the link but nothing seems to tally with my problem. Yesterday I spoke to a mechanic who told me that the car MAY actually have no problem at all. Infact, he told me that since the heat sensor is activating the radiator fan, then probably the thermostat might be the problem. He was suggesting that I get rid of the thermostat once and for all, and that it might solve the problem. Could this be true?

The reason why I am convinced that it might is that this morning, after the car had been off all night, I switched it on and immediately, even before the engine had gotten warm, the gauge had moved to a 1/4 way, meaning it was detecting heat though the engine was still cold. What do you think of this?

 
Rep Power: 813

its the thermostat. its function is not to turn the fan on, that is done by the fan temp sensor. thermostat is not a sensor at all but rather a gate that opens and closes based on coolant temp. the hotter the coolant gets, the more the thermo will expand and allow more coolant to flow to the radiator and get cooled off. if it does not open completely or gets stuck, basically its like driving without a radiator to cool the engine down. i would bet money its that. and make sure you get a honda oem thermostat, not some junk from the auto store. and if youve never changed it, i would try and find a how to guide so you know where it is and whats involved.

i read your last reply, and if the gauge is reading the wrong temp, then its more than likely the ECT sensor (engine coolant temp) instead of the thermostat. it is reading the wrong temp and sending that to the gauges and the ecu. it does affect how the car drives.

 
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So you are suggesting I get another Honda thermostat? I have never changed it and if it is a simple process Id rather be the one to do it, a guide would be highly appreciated. Maybe I can change the thermo and if the problem persists, then I can move on to the ECT.

 
Rep Power: 813

i would do the ect first. i wrote the first part without reading your last comment about the gauge reading hotter than it should on a cold start. thats either a bad ect or a bad gauge cluster. i would look into those first before the thermo.

 
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i'll look into this as well. i've been seeing the same things on my cluster.