REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

BinsentoW · 10-25-2010, 06:25 PM

What problems can cause the car to overheat? The fan used to be on when car is turned off or is in idle if its hot, but it doesnt do that anymore. My dad brought it in to honda to get it checked out and they said they dont know what the problem is.
Any suggestions?

!e.lo_ · 10-25-2010, 06:36 PM

two small things that can contribute to overheating
rad cap
thermostat

have those been replaced?
check the rad cap (when engine is cold, don't want hot coolant spraying everywhere)
check the rubber seal's condition and if the spring moves (press it)

BinsentoW · 10-25-2010, 06:49 PM

thermostat was changed, butill check the rad cap

Puck Luck · 10-25-2010, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BinsentoW

What problems can cause the car to overheat? The fan used to be on when car is turned off or is in idle if its hot, but it doesnt do that anymore. My dad brought it in to honda to get it checked out and they said they dont know what the problem is.
Any suggestions?

Too vague a question. many things can cause overheating. Was it low on coolant? Leaking?
"the fan used to be on when car is turned off"? Fan shouldn't be coming on when car is off. Unless there's an underhood temp sensor (which i don't think these accords have one, older preludes did) and is set off.
If the cooling fans arent coming on, could be a fan switch. There's 2 on this car. Or could be low coolant which brings us back to line one. A possible leak

FN-2199 · 10-25-2010, 10:14 PM

Can you tell us what Honda actually checked? We can easily narrow down a list of possibilities rather than guessing into the blue what it could be.

BinsentoW · 10-28-2010, 07:39 AM

honda said:
Cause: leak down tested cylinders. no leak found. pressure tested cooling system. no leak found. tan engine until cooling fan came on. normal."
They said it MIGHT be the radiator cap.

Side question: I thought the coolant was in a plastic "bottle" near the passenger headlight. It has a hose going through the cap. What is that fluid in there?
Edit: is that plastic bottle the coolant overflow tank? It is low on the fluid thats in there now, but wasnt like that a day or 2 ago I think.

fliptuner · 10-28-2010, 10:28 AM

If your cooling system is fine and the engine passed a leak down test, I would suspect the cooling system wasn't bled thoroughly enough and you had a bunch of air left in there before you put the cap on.

If the overflow tank was full and the level dropped, the system probably burped and got rid of an air pocket or you have a leak that wasn't detected at the dealership cause it was tested when the engine was cold. Change the rad cap anyways since they're cheap and keep an eye on your coolant level.