a not so quick question

[iamme9182]

not sure if im in the right section let alone the right forum.
i have a 1987 honda accord dx with 118,000 miles on it. and
yesterday i was driving and i stopped at a red light, and my car didnt start. well i sat there for a minute or 2 and managed to get it to turn over and i was able to drive home. looking at the engine the air filter container is full of oil and a greyish gunk. well im thinking oil in the air filter, hopefully just a pcv valve, so i replace it. it drives real well for about 20 minutes and then does the same thing when i slow down to exit the freeway. i notice the engine is real hot and i open the air filter again. well the air filter is actually partially melted. of course this cant be a good sign. i live in las vegas where we see a good 120 degrees at this time of year, dont know if that has anything to do with it or not. im not to technical when it comes to cars so im lost at the moment. any ideas as to what the next step i should take?

[netfreak]

What's your temp guage showing?

[A20A1]

the temp guage could be busted... don't trust the guage on the guage cluster... make sure your fans turn on and you could since the weather is so hot, connect the fans to go on permanetly.

[iamme9182]

the temp gauge doesnt change much. after about 5 min it goes to about halfway just like it always does.

[smufguy]

yeah it would be a better idea like what mike said. it could even be your fan relay not working or any fuse for any matter. do check the temp guage.

[ACCORD EX]

don't know if this applies to honda ! but to test the fans you can pull the wire off the sensor and they should work ! if not you 've got something wrong with the fans if yes so it's probably the sensor !
if the fans are ok ! check the thermostat and try disabling it may be it's closed all the time !

MIKE

[rocky2]

jamme9182,


Take out your theromstat.
Bring it in house.
Boil water
Drop it in there (pot)
Watch it
Does it open?
Honda 3-gs will run with a bad thermostat,and cooling fans wont' even come on,you can feel both radiater hoses and only one (top) will get hot after idling for a while,also you may want a real cool one for LV. @160 will work

[iamme9182]

that would explain it getting hot but what about the oil and grey stuff in the air filter container, the grey stuff looks like its too thick to be oil and water. any ideas?

[valerit1]

About the cooling system - I agree. When I bought my accord,
it used to get to 3/4 of the temp guage after a long run here in Vegas, and the coolant was good. I replaced the thermostat just with the Honda one, changed to the mixture of about 60/40 water/coolant (yes, the more water, the the better the heat transfer you get = better cooling), and added one bottle of
WaterWetter product for a good measure (a Redline Oil product
to improve the cooling). Now no matter what I do, with air
in full blast, after the long highway run I cannot get the needle
even to/above one-half - it always stays rock solid a little below
one-half. BUT - if you live where it gets cold - REMEMBER -
more water in the coolant means higher freezing point! You
also need to add some anti-rust additive.
Unfortunately, do not know about the filter gunk stuff.

[catalin]

Could it be front firing and the heat from the cylinders burns the air filter?? Do you have any oil in your coolant??

Just shooting out ideas..

[CoAsTeR]

if your motor is scorching hot and fans dont kick in.... blame it on the thermostat.
sludge in the air cleaner? could it just be your melted air filter? does it look like its belching up the carb or could it be comeing out the valve cover filter?

[88WhiteLX-i]

I would check my spark plugs because when the gap is too big the engine runs really hot. I would also make sure the other basic shit is done like plugs, plug wires, rotor, and cap.

[iamme9182]

well i wanted to make sure so i replaced the pvc valve and filter once again. the car ran fine for about a week. today while i was slowing down for a stop light the car just died and it had a whirring sound when i tried to restart it. i got it restarted after trying a few times. let it sit for about 4 hours then i had to come home. drove about 20 miles and it died getting off the offramp when slowing down again. this time it wont turn over at all. sound like a battery perhaps?