Thermostat issue?

[a1phanum3rics]

So one day after driving with the AC on, i park and idle with it on for a bit and I notice that the temp gauge starts rising more and more.

I can't seem to figure out whether it's the thermostat or something else.

Any thoughts on what the cause might be?

[SlimmTex]

If your thermostat was stuck closed it will overheat while driving or sitting still.

If it only overheats when your sitting still its going to be a problem with the fans. The one on the drivers side should come on and off with you A/C the one on the passenger side is controlled by a temp sensor.

You need to start by making sure those fans aren't coming on and then track down the why.

[accordztech]

Yes make sure your fans are coming on. If they are, feel if they have flow. If not then you have a restriction in the airflow and need to backrinse the radiator.

Also check if you have coolant when the car is cool, open the cap to make sure that its topped off.

[ninethreecoupe]

Check the fans and coolant and along with the coolant check to see if there's any puddles underneath your car on the driver side. If there is then could be time to replace your water pump.

[dailydragger]

if it ends up being a faulty thermostat get one of the failsafe ones they stick open instead of closed.

check coolant flow, fans, thermo, temp switch, cap, and level

[accordztech]

Haha failsafe my ass.

The beat failsafe is oem. Never had one go bad. Well evtually they did....took around 7 years.

[dailydragger]

guess u never heard of them but its ok go to an autoparts store and check one out

cant bash on stuff u never know about

[accordztech]

I have used them. All those aftermarket ones suck. There is a reason why they have that feature. And not all of them have a great failsafe. Some just fail.

I guess you never used OEM thermostats so you wouldn't know.


Don't be cheap, go OEM and you will never regret it.

[ninjawagon]

All these guys are heading you in the right direction. I would do basic and obvious checks. Check for coolant in the radiator and the overflow tank. Then go ahead and top off the coolant. You may have a bubble in the system. You can also a do a continuity test on temp sensor make sure the there isn't an open on the switch?

[dailydragger]

I do use oem and they are great parts but why not use a part that is designed to give u better security by letting you still be able to drive to safety instead of your car overheating and possibly blowing a engine

[accordztech]

Im not going to start an argument with you, that's not my intention. I see your point, those products do offer something that the OEM doesn't. However of the 10 aftermarket thermostats I seen, they were all aftermarket. Every one of those has been replaced prior at least before 4 years.

I had an aftermarket one in my van, transverse motor and a BITCH to get to. I didn't realize the shop put an aftermarket one. 1 year later that sucker failed. Got mad at the shop because I paid for a OEM one (threw that one literally back into their shop and never went there again.) I went to get the OEM one, been good ever since.

But every OEM thermostat over the years I had, I only had 2 go bad. My dad has been running on his new OEM thermostat for almost 200k.

I am just saying, for a few bucks more, get an OEM unit.

[a1phanum3rics]

Thanks guys. It seems that the fans don't run when I turn the ac on, but it seems to run after I've turned off my car (which I am assuming is the cooling fan?)

I'll start looking into why they aren't turning on.

Not sure if I'm making any sense.

[SlimmTex]

Week before last I had a customer have his 2010 Accord towed in because it overheated on him and he didn't want to risk trying to drive it in. Long story short, his thermostat was sticking closed intermittently. He only had 54k on it. The OE ones can definitely fail.

I have never gone to the dealer for a thermostat, not on a personal vehicle or for one of my customers. I wouldn't expect any aftermarket shop to unless the customer was very specific about wanting only OE parts.
Honda doesn't make thermostats, they buy them from Nippon.
Majestic Honda sells the OE Nippon thermostat for 16.93 http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...ry5=WATER+PUMP
I would be ok with paying 17 bucks for a t-stat if I knew it was going to be any better than the ones at the parts house but I don't. The dealers are also very slow to deliver or don't deliver at all, whereas the parts houses will have that thing in a truck and on its way to me within minutes of hanging up the phone.

For probably most of us a ten dollar difference is nothing, but for a lot of people (especially a lot of people who drive 20+ yr old accord i would imagine) that's the difference between having enough gas to make it to the next payday or not.

The original ones obviously do fail, if they didn't there would be no conversation about them and no aftermarket to speak of on them.

Non of that matters much considering the OP isn't describing symptoms of a bad thermostat. The car overheats when its not in motion, so its almost surely an issue with air not crossing through the radiator. Most likely reason for that is the fans aren't coming on when they should. If the OP finds the time to pop his hood and see if the fans work or not then I'm sure we can help him solve it.

EDIT: the OP did find the time and posted about it right after I opened this thread apparently.

In response to the OP:

The fan on the right is the cooling fan, it should come on when your engine reaches a certain temp. before you start your car check the coolant level, make sure the radiator is all the way full and the overflow is filled to the correct level. On the thermostat housing there is a 12mm bleeder valve. Open that and make sure your getting a steady stream of coolant and no bubbles. If your getting air out of it there leave it open and keep filling the radiator until it stops bubbling at that valve, then close the valve. I've seen those fans fail in such a way that the motor still runs but the shaft on the motor has so much play it just makes the noise and doesn't turn the actual fan blades, so go ahead and start it up and let it reach full operating temperature. Watch the fan on the passenger side and see if it actually cycles on and off. Let us know what you find

[a1phanum3rics]

I'll be sure to check it first thing when I wake up tomorrow afternoon.

Currently on the graveyard shift lol.

I checked my reservoir earlier today and there was coolant there, but I haven't checked for air in the system yet.

That'll be the next thing I check.

I'll update once I get it done.

[a1phanum3rics]

Thanks again for all the help guys.

I saw that the fan was in fact working (at least after i turned off the car) and so I replaced my thermostat and I haven't had the overheating problem since.

There were no air bubbles in my radiator system, but that process in itself was new to me, so thanks for that one.