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Recently picked up an 06 ex. I have been chasing down gremlins and have finally gotten to some common maintenance items. Oil, filter, plugs, thermostat, and coolant flush.
Cold day in Pgh, Pa. Drained the coolant, pulled the thermostat, reinstalled the housing and filled the system with tap water and a low suddsing detergent. Fished this with more tap water, then flushed again with distilled water. Installed a new Honda thermostat and gasket, part # 19301-rna- 315. Then I refilled with blue Honda coolant waiting for all the bubbles to work their way out.
Now for the cons. Since the thermostat, flush, and fill, the thermostat will not open, and the cooling fan will not kick on. The temp gauge on the dash registers at the halfway way point just as before. My scan tool shows a high of 190 from the ect sensor. I went for a 10 mile spin after the car sat at idle for 30 mins with no change.
The lower road hose is cold while the upper is hot. The cooling fan did not kick in but the car never over heated or got above 195.
Any thought. Plan on pullling the stat weather permitting tomorrow. Maybe throw it in a pot of boiling water.

 
Rep Power: 243

Not sure what temp it is suppose to turn on but if it is cool outside it might not get to it. Does it come on when the AC is on?

When I did the radiator in my Pilot I could not get the fan to come on. The motor would just not get hot enough.

 
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Thanks Nat for the insight. Not sure what temp kicks the fan on. The ac has a a slow leak so the pressure switch will no allow it to kick on.
Warmer today so hope to give it another go before diggin back in. With my luck a mouse crawled in while I had the system open. Lol

 
Rep Power: 209

sometimes thermos have bleeder holes, if your does, did you align that hole properly?

your system might not be burped properly yet, are there any bleeder valves you need to open?

next time you drive it, rev it up really high to get the pump spinning fast a few times, it helps get the air out,

is it a honda thermostat? i wouldnt trust an aftermarket one

 
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Appreciate the input Mikey1.
It is an oem thermostat($54.00), gasket, and antifreeze.
I did align the the little bleeder dingle at 12 o’clock. Only fits into the gasket 1 way and the gasket has locating pieces. I burned that bad boy for 45 minutes. The cooling fan did not come on and the bottom hose stayed cold.

today I ran the toll road at 70 mph watching the live data. Etc never showed more than 196 F. Bottom hose still cold.
I then let it idle for 30 mins and the cooling fans kicked on. Bottom hose was not cold but barely just warm while the top hose was so hot that it was hard to hold for any length of time.

wish I had a baseline on that bottom hose. Any body feel like letting their Honda heat up till the fan kicks in and then checking their bottom hose?

 
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Gentlemen
like always the devil is in the details!
Nice day today so I revisited everything. Pulled off the hoses, the thermostat cover, and checked for obstructions throughout.
Nothing. No obstructions, thermostat checked out, all was as it should have been. Reassembly and research.

I found a recommendation to raise the front end, before beginning the fill and burping. I got the ramps out and positioned the car so that the left front was the high point. Slowly filled the rad while squeezing each rad hose. Started the engine and then let it idle, topping off the coolant for the next half hour. Finally the fan kicked in with the top ects showing 212 degrees.
The fan stayed on for a whopping 15 seconds and the temp dropped 8 degrees. Let this scenario repeat a dozen times and finally no more bubbles and the bottom hose was actually hotter than the top return hose. 40 mile test run, city and highway showed no leaks, over heating or any adverse effects.

Interesting cooling system. I am used to old style where the pump is fed from the bottom rad hose. Fluid seeking it own level and such. Here the pump is supplied initially from the top hose (Coming from the engine output).The rad is supplied from the bottom hose coming from the thermostat (once it opens). This is why burping is so critical. The rad has to be filled to the absolute top for coolant to run into the top hose and then into the engine.
Sorry so long winded. Took me awhile for my old hard drive to wrap around this whole deal.

thanks guys

 
Rep Power: 243

glad you got it figured out and she is running good.