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View Full Version : Overheating... kinda... is this normal?



6eHonda
03-06-2011, 08:55 AM
Hey guys.

I've been driving my 1989 Honda Accord for about a year now and am closing in on 200k. I had been driving heavily, 200 mi/day highway all last summer. I stopped making these highway runs back in September and as the weather started to get colder my 89 Accord began to get warmer and warmer.

I don't know what's going on exactly but basically here are the facts:


If I leave the heat on, fan setting 1 - car will likely stay normal temp
If I run heat full blast the car never overheats even on 2 hr journies, but I get way too warm and the heat seems to be abnormally hot.
If I run cool air (not a/c) on fan setting 1, car will start getting hot
I have never seen the car get all the way into the "H" zone
If I turn the heater on when the car starts to get a little too hot, it almost instantly returns to normal temp
One day, we were trying to diagnose if the fans were coming on and it took nearly 30 minutes of idling in a driveway to induce overheating with the heat/fan all the way off. But right as it got really close to the "red zone" both radiator fans kicked in and blasted away all the heat away in a matter of seconds. Maybe a thermostat issue?
Hitting A/C button/Heat doesn't trigger fans
this issue coincides with the installation of an amp and subwoofer that suddenly stopped working
the audio equipment isn't turning on because it is only getting like 9.8V from the Head Unit
All of a Sudden my gauge cluster stopped lighting up with the headlights. Instead it waits approximately 30 seconds and then turns on after the headlights
I think my car has gremlins.
I need help.



It's a great car though and I would appreciate advice on any of the issues listed above. Most of it is about the overheating issue but I figured I'd throw in a couple of miscellaneous problems in there in case we have a car audio expert in here or one of my car's gremlins is reading this.

MessyHonda
03-06-2011, 09:38 AM
welcome

I will start by telling you that you will have to go with the basic. it does sounds like its some what electrical because your sub is not working. I dont get how the head unit puts out 9.8v the preamp on any headunit should be less than 2-4v. so maybe try unpluging or going over the the wiring because it sounds like something was interconnected and messing with your cooling system

w261w261
03-06-2011, 10:33 AM
what does your coolant look like ? if it's rusty looking , you may have a restriction in the system . I would first throw in a new thermostat , then look onto the radiator.

Your heater is acting like an auxiliary radiator, getting rid of more heat. I'm betting you have a crudded-up system and a failing thermostat.

AccordEpicenter
03-06-2011, 11:14 AM
check to see if the radiator has all the fins in it or if they are starting to peel off... you might need to replace the rad

w261w261
03-06-2011, 01:58 PM
Also look at the front of the radiator to make sure something isn't blocking the air flow, like a piece of paper.

6eHonda
03-06-2011, 07:33 PM
Well the coolant looks normal. It was a little low, just a little low though so I topped off the overflow reservoir but it didn't make any difference. The radiator itself looks okay, no blockages apparent and I can feel the flow of the antifreeze into and out of the radiator shortly after the car starts up.

As for the wiring, I'm not sure what you mean by 2-4V out of your headunit? My amp has a 12V remote turn-on lead that connects to the head unit. That's the connection I hooked up to the volt meter and got the ~9V reading on. I have not confirmed this is the reason that the amp is no longer powering on - but as I have checked all the other wires and then double checked them (I mean the wires in my stereo system itself, not the whole car) I don't know why else it would suddenly not be working.

Are there any resources available on this site (sorry I'm a bit new) to aid me in replacing the radiator thermostat? I'm not particularly mechanically inclined but my father said it should be pretty easy for the two of us to tackle. In my experience, directions always make it easier though.

MessyHonda
03-06-2011, 07:39 PM
Well the coolant looks normal. It was a little low, just a little low though so I topped off the overflow reservoir but it didn't make any difference. The radiator itself looks okay, no blockages apparent and I can feel the flow of the antifreeze into and out of the radiator shortly after the car starts up.

As for the wiring, I'm not sure what you mean by 2-4V out of your headunit? My amp has a 12V remote turn-on lead that connects to the head unit. That's the connection I hooked up to the volt meter and got the ~9V reading on. I have not confirmed this is the reason that the amp is no longer powering on - but as I have checked all the other wires and then double checked them (I mean the wires in my stereo system itself, not the whole car) I don't know why else it would suddenly not be working.

Are there any resources available on this site (sorry I'm a bit new) to aid me in replacing the radiator thermostat? I'm not particularly mechanically inclined but my father said it should be pretty easy for the two of us to tackle. In my experience, directions always make it easier though.


the only 12v that should be going to your amp is the power cable. The Remote cable should never be that high thus making your amp inoperable or maybe a bad ground. the manual is right here http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30792
these cars also have a bleed valve by the thermostat that has to be open to let the air out of the system. For thermostats always use a honda OEM one and then flush out your coolant.

1813mdw
03-06-2011, 08:04 PM
Well the coolant looks normal. It was a little low, just a little low though so I topped off the overflow reservoir but it didn't make any difference. The radiator itself looks okay, no blockages apparent and I can feel the flow of the antifreeze into and out of the radiator shortly after the car starts up.

As for the wiring, I'm not sure what you mean by 2-4V out of your headunit? My amp has a 12V remote turn-on lead that connects to the head unit. That's the connection I hooked up to the volt meter and got the ~9V reading on. I have not confirmed this is the reason that the amp is no longer powering on - but as I have checked all the other wires and then double checked them (I mean the wires in my stereo system itself, not the whole car) I don't know why else it would suddenly not be working.

Are there any resources available on this site (sorry I'm a bit new) to aid me in replacing the radiator thermostat? I'm not particularly mechanically inclined but my father said it should be pretty easy for the two of us to tackle. In my experience, directions always make it easier though.



follow the top radiator hose to the engine. their will be 2 small bolts where the hose connects. remove those bolts, pull the tstat out, hook everything back up and start the car; if you still overheat it wasn't the tstat

rocketman
03-07-2011, 09:16 AM
Nope . . . not normal. My '89 Accord started to act like this at about 250,000 miles. I decided to try a new t-stat, no help, coolant flush, no help . . then I looked at the radiator. After 22 years your has got to be worse than mine was. Even if you do the coolant flush and replace every two years (I did), the radiator will wear out. I couldn't believe how bad it was when I changed it. Falling apart! Anyway, good time to change the upper and lower hose with the radiator . . . if I recall correctly the radiator was about $100, maybe another $35 for hoses/clamps . . another $15 for new coolant . . . $10 for another t-stat . . . now it runs cool as the day I bought it 22 years ago, 525,000 miles ago! Easy job . . . just takes a while to unzip all the stuff around the radiator. One more thing . . . . the temp sensor is screwed into the bottom of the radiator, now's a great time to change that too! You'll be glad you did, nothing ruins a Honda quicker than overheating it a few times. Rocketman

gp02a0083
03-07-2011, 10:44 AM
hmm sounds a little odd with the issues your having. start with the cooling system.

Check to see if you have a good flow, it may be a bad water pump, this happened to my 87 (that's why i found it in the junkyard). you can check this one of two ways. Through the radiator cap with some UV dye and a cheap blacklight bulb.

the other way, you can open the bleed screw on the top of the thermostat, this will get rid of any air trapped in the system that may cause the car to surge at idle. Put a deep socket on it when you open it, it will gush coolant. Take the throttle and blip it a few times, this will cause the coolant to shoot. If the coolant gushes a lot out of it when going this , then i don't think the water pump is shot.

My 87 had an issue similar to this , but it was a bad water pump and a clogged radiator that was the cause of it. Might not be a bad idea to flush the rad just to see if the issue does away.

When the car is overheating a bit you can put the climate control settings to hot to drive off a bit of the excess heat, but if the fans are lazy to come on right away , turn on the AC system. By turning on the AC in our cars , it will force the cooling fans to come on instantly, drawing air flow across the radiator. yes it may task the engine a bit and make more heat, but the cooling fans take care of it.


i cant really comment on the headunit / amp issue as i do knot know the specs for the wiring. But i would have to say 12v from the remote turn on sounds wayy off , it should be very low, there only used to send a signal to the amp to turn on. That is as much as i know about that