Where does your water temp needle sit at?

[The_Head]

I was driving my car and I noticed the water temp gauge was in the upper part of the normal range. I was wondering if this is normal for these cars or do I have some kind of issue I need to address...

Here is a pic from my phone.

[tm123]

mine sits level in the winter
about 5/8ths in the summer
i have a stock integra rad also
but ive noticed accords always run a lil warm

[PakaloloHonda]

That is definately not normal .. check your fans, hoses, and fluids.
When's the last time you changed your water pump?

Mine sits just below 50% .. never more .. never!

[cb7 dohc]

Make sure your fans are coming on, or you might have to change out the fan switch might have a bad switch.

[The_Head]

Yeah, I didn't think this was normal. It doesn't do this all the time though. I will check coolant level tomorrow, and see if the fans will cycle. The previous owner indicated the WP was done at the 180,000 miles point (along with the timing belt), but I guess you never know.

Where is the fan switch located and is it cheap to replace?

[bobbycos]

That is definately not normal .. check your fans, hoses, and fluids.
When's the last time you changed your water pump?

Mine sits just below 50% .. never more .. never!

Make sure your fans are coming on, or you might have to change out the fan switch might have a bad switch.

seems like a good time to flush out the system too

change the water pump AND the T-stat too.

[remix405]

fan swich is easy to replace change out you tstat while your there, that is not normal my needle sits below 50% if it starts to get warm turn on your heater temps will go down

[bobbycos]

fan swich is easy to replace change out you tstat while your there, that is not normal my needle sits below 50% if it starts to get warm turn on your heater temps will go down

the old race car trick

[GeoffM]

Mine used to sit at 50%. Then I checked the coolant and saw it was pretty low. I filled it up and now I'd say It's about 40%.

[stretch JDM]

i think the normal setting is half way . what mine sits.

[Skidd]

yeah, when its warmed up, it sits at around 50% summer or winter.... I only saw it get that high when I had a coolant leak. ya might want to check for a sweet smell under the hood just to make sure you aren't leaking any antifreeze.

[The_Head]

Well I dont think I have a coolant leak. I added a little coolant to the overflow tank though. I was hoping for an easy fix.

I think the thermostat may be stuck. The top rad hose is hot, but the lower hose is not. It's not super cold, but it's not warm either, just ambient engine bay temperature. The heater works great though and does not fluctuate with engine speed or load.

I am not sure if the fans are working either. My guess is the switch that turns them on is where the cool coolant is at.

I guess I will do some searching on this.

[esskater892]

someone just post a pic of where it sits norm, then you dont have to guess 50 or 40% but ya thats def not norm, ide say if it was the switch then it would go straight to that spot or all the way to hot every time. im acutally dealing with this problem right now. lol. but it seems that sense its not all the way up ide say check to see if your water pump is leaking out of the seep hole. whats the millage at right now sense the water pump change? that can tell you how old it is. check for leaks and if you start to drive and it goes to norm or its intermittent then ide go with the t-stat. good luck man.
edit: there is a way to short the fans to see if there working. Im not sure how to do this, never had to, but I believe there is a DIY on it?

[The_Head]

Well the previous owner said he did the timing belt and water pump in the summer of '08, which I assume was at 180k. The car has 216k on it now. He commuted to college and back on it, so that seems about right.

I'm really hoping it's not the water pump. My plan right now is to do the thermostat (might as well do it anyways), then the fan switch. Might as well do the cheap stuff first.

[Tippey764]

Just below half for my current accord

My old accord always sat just above half