water temp guage

[doug]

I've seen reported here and in newsgroups a problem (I guess) that I also see. That is that the water temp guage goes to a certain point, in my case a little less than half way, and stops...never goes higher. There have been times when my coolant has become quite hot, boiling over into the runoff tank and yet the guage never shows over the half way point. My question is..How do I figure out if it is the guage or the sending unit? I'm trying to do this with tests rather than just buying a new sending unit and seeing if that solves the problem. Thanks for any tips.

[ACCORD EX]

it's normal to have the temp gauge below the half and not going higher ! about the boiling > do you mean when you take off the cap the water is boiling ! if so , it should do that because the heat of the coolant rises to 70 > 80 c ( not sure ) !
does the coolant level get lower ?

MIKE

[smufguy]

its time to go to pauls website and download the shop manual buddy. its your love dictionary that would make u and ur car continue ur love. :)

[anchovies]

take out the wire for the sending unit and ground it...if the gauge deflects to H, then it's the sending unit, if not then it's the gauge
does your fan come on?

[doug]

anchovies, thanks for the tip. smufguy, got the manual from Paul about a month ago. :) accord ex, after I drive it around hard for a while if I open the hood there is alot of coolant rapidly moving to the overflow bottle, sometimes the overflow bottle overflows, then I add more coolant/water. maybe it is all normal, I'm gonna do anchovies test and see what I get from that. Thanks for the replies everyone.

[ACCORD EX]

anchovies : nice tip ! :) but what if everything is alright ! :D ??

MIKE

[anchovies]

that's not a tip...every manual i read has that how-to to test the sending unit :p
and only ground it for a few seconds..or else it might do damage

doug: do not overflow the overflow bottle
keep the level a tad below full so that when it overflows its near or just above the full mark
which is normal

if your fans are working, upper and lower radiator hoses are about the same temperature, no coolant leakage
then it should be fine