overheating

[1987HondaAccord]

I've got a problem that seems to pop up a lot when I'm stuck in traffic. Most of the time I can avoid the problem by not sitting in traffic, or turning on the heater full blast. Twice a week I take an hour drive (freeway) and it never overheats as long as I drive fast enough (over 20-30 mph).

Today it seems to have gotten worse. I was driving back from the bank (sitting in traffic) and it started overheating. I noticed that when it was warming up the idle was a little high (2300 rpm and 2000 rpm is normal). After it seemed like it had warmed up, the idle started surging between 1200 and 1500 rpm. About a week ago I noticed a puddle that had formed overnight on the driver's side of the car.

Are these symptoms of a water pump going bad? or is it more like the thermostat not opening? I don't really want to have to replace my water pump, as I'm not going to keep the car very long. If there is a temporary fix that would last a few months I would be very interested.

Thanks for your help.

[visionguru]

What do you mean by "overheating"? Temperature meter all the way to the red?

About a week ago I noticed a puddle that had formed overnight on the driver's side of the car.

A puddle of coolant? Did you even bother to open the hood to check what's going on in there? Do you still have any coolant left, or where exactly is the leaking? When was the last time you serviced the cooling system?

Why do you suspect water pump? You need to check the whole cooling system, at least the coolant level.
By the way, there is no such thing as "temorary fix", you either fix it or leve it as is.

Good luck.

[stat1K]

and 2000 rpm is not normal either...

[logic]

2000 is normal when it's cold and warming up, not normal for a warmed engine.
If it only over heats when it's not moving, that indicates the fan is not working properly (assuming of course that it is not low on coolant).
The puddle on the drivers side is most likely the waterpump starting to leak. It will work fine but will leak as the seals go out (make sure the leak is the water pump, there is a little hole under where the shaft for the pulley comes out of the pump housing which is where it will leak if it's the pump, otherwise you need to find the real leak and fix it), you can keep driving it for quite a while as long as you keep the coolant level up, check it every day if you don't drive it too far, otherwise everytime you start it)

[stat1K]

i guess i've never really had to warm anything up seeing as how i live in arizona, but my rpm has never been over 1300 cold and never more than 750 warm

[Spiderldr]

exactly what happened to me.

My pump started leaking,
it dripped down into my timing case and out on the drivers side.

I had to put more in every 5 days or so, or it would overheat.

Just replace the waterpump. 3 hours tops, and $40 or so. It's a lot easier now than if the bearings seize up and the belt breaks.

[jlros75]

Get a water pump from autozone $25 and fix it or let your engine fry. You have the choice.

[logic]

i guess i've never really had to warm anything up seeing as how i live in arizona, but my rpm has never been over 1300 cold and never more than 750 warm

I never had a 3gee in PHX, but my 2gees (total of 4) all idled up to about 2grand in the winter...

[1987HondaAccord]

What do you mean by "overheating"? Temperature meter all the way to the red?

I mean the meter goes way up beyond where it normally is. hence the 'over' heating.

A puddle of coolant? Did you even bother to open the hood to check what's going on in there? Do you still have any coolant left, or where exactly is the leaking? When was the last time you serviced the cooling system?

Yes, a puddle of coolant. It was more like a trickle running down the driveway actually. Yes, i opened the hood. yes, there was coolant left in the overflow tank, but the radiator wasn't full up to where I could see liquid. I'm guessing the coolant missing from the radiator was in the puddle. I added water since I didn't have any coolant in my back pocket. I couldn't determine exactly where the coolant was leaking from, but I could tell it was coming from near the timing belt. I didn't have time at that point to raise it up on jack stands and tear it apart for a full inspection.

Why do you suspect water pump? You need to check the whole cooling system, at least the coolant level.
By the way, there is no such thing as "temorary fix", you either fix it or leve it as is.

I suspect the water pump, because the coolant was leaking from near where the water pump is. I have over 213,000 miles on this engine, and I don't think the water pump has ever been changed. I define a "temporary fix" as maybe a solution or additive that I can put in the coolant. Maybe something like a 'leak stop' perhaps. I know they have these for temporarily fixing small leaks in the engine.
I hope my responses sufficiently answer your questions.

Good luck.

thanks

[1987HondaAccord]

i guess i've never really had to warm anything up seeing as how i live in arizona, but my rpm has never been over 1300 cold and never more than 750 warm

Well, that's great for you. Maybe the 88-89 LXi's had a slightly different idle range since they didn't have as many vacuum lines and had more electronic control. My rpm range may be be a little high when its warming up, but that may be due to the fact that I'm not using the stock intake, cam, header, catalytic converter, or muffler. If my idle ever gets down to 750 its a little rough.

thank you for your pointers logic.

[Deadhead]

It sounds like you have quite a bit of air in your cooling system, which would cause your surging idle problem when your warmed up.

Check that your fans are turning on, it is also possible that a seal gave way to the immense heat of the coolant.

Check all seals
isolate the leak
fix the leak
bleed the shit out of the cooling system.

Do you know how to bleed the cooling system? If not, i'll be happy to give you a run down of the procedure.

If it was overheating before you had the leak, it could be caused by air in the cooling system, it also could be the fans not working propery, or the thermostat was stuck closed, or partially losed. If the thermostat was partially closed, it could still help the engine cool at higher speeds because the coolant travels much faster at higher speed, thus pushing more coolant through the small opening that the thermostat is allowing.

So take out the thermostat while you have no coolant in it, and put it in a pot of water and ptu that on the stove along with a thermometer in the water. What temperature does it open at? Does it open?

[Hondaisok]

Bars Leaks claims on their website that some auto manufacturers put it in all their vehicles at the factory, and it won't affect the warranty. Don't want coolant dripping on the show room floor! I've never used it, but have heard mostly good, and some bad about it, like most things. I would bet that the dealers get a lot of new vehicles with leaks, seeing how the assembly lines don't stop for anything.
Just read Deadhead's post, and know from experience that a thorough bleeding stopped a mysterious leak, and made my car idle better! Strange, but true. Listen to Deadhead.

[NXRacer]

its your water pump. no question. mine was overheating, heating up quickly and the only way to get it to go down was blast the heater and drive distance. it wasnt leaking so i didnt suspect my waterpump. only after i removed my thermostat did i finally break down and change out my waterpump. after i pulled it out and it looked like this:


and i wonder why i was overheating. . . . . . .

[Honda-Master]

yo guys there is an easy solution,,,,,,,,,,,pressure test the cooling system and see where the leak is coming from,,, and i would not replace anything until you diagnose properly.............
As for the overheating ,,if u are real low on coolant it will overheat, if fans dont work it will overheat mostly at stops ,,,
My advice chk the whole cooling system from a to z ,,leaks, fan operation, rad cap ec etc ..

[w261w261]

<Today it seems to have gotten worse. I was driving back from the bank (sitting in traffic) and it started overheating. I noticed that when it was warming up the idle was a little high (2300 rpm and 2000 rpm is normal). After it seemed like it had warmed up, the idle started surging between 1200 and 1500 rpm>

Many times a surging idle is related to air in the cooling system. I think bubbles get into the lines that feed the fast idle valve, causing the valve to vary the idle speed as the entrained air first lets the valve heat up, then cool down as the bubble moves on and is replaced by coolant. Thermostats are easy to replace...don't bother to test yours, just get a new one and put it in. I personally replace the water pump every time I do the timing belt. It's probably overly conservative, but I don't like the idea of doing 120k on one pump.

While you're considering these things, take a good hard look at the heater, radiator and fast idle valve hoses. One of those goes, it's ruin your day.

[lionel]

Well, coolant on the floor does indicate a leak, but overheating only while standing in traffic and not while driving probably indicates not working fans or fans going on at higher temp that it should.

This could be due to a malfunctioning thermostat. Does not mean thermostat is bad, it can also be caused by air in the radiator or a dirty thermostat tip.

[russiankid]

if you drive and it doesnt overheat, and when you stand in traffic and it overheats then that means that your fans arent working

[1987HondaAccord]

so how would i get my fans to work? install a switch? or which sensor might be bad and isn't telling the fans to start up?

[Mac]

The sensor for the radiaor fan is on the bottom of radiator. You can unplug the sensor and short out the 2 contacts, turn the key on and the fans should come on. But as mentioned earlier if the thermostat is bad this can also stop the fans from coming on.

[logic]

The sensor for the radiaor fan is on the bottom of radiator. You can unplug the sensor and short out the 2 contacts, turn the key on and the fans should come on. But as mentioned earlier if the thermostat is bad this can also stop the fans from coming on.

And remember very low coolant will cause the same symptom...(that's how I knew it was past time to add coolant when my radiator was bad, when the temp started to rise above normal when stopped )

[russiankid]

watch your fingers when you test the fans

[Mars]

Mine is getting hot too, (a little over 3/4's up in the meter) but im not leaking any fluid...

[Mars]

I found out my problem.
My coolant fans werent turning, theres a thermo switch at the bottom of the radiator, i popped it off and jammed a paper clip in there, switch the electricity on and the fans fired up. Im fixing to replace the switch, its like 12 bucks at a parts store.

[1987HondaAccord]

I noticed that my fans came on while i was looking for parking the other day. I guess that means the fans work, now its just a question of the water pump or thermostat...

Does anyone have a good idea about how to remove the Cruise Control?

[l3aLLa]

Well, I can tell you this, my car goes in the first of the year for timing belt, but its also stupid not to do your water pump while you have everything off. A thermostat is not something big to replace. But seems how honda has the crappy plastic radiators, there is probably no doubt that is what is leaking, if not the waterpump. My friend who has an 89, had a radiator leak, but also noticed his water pump not working properly. Went ahead and changed all of that out also. As for fan, I had issues when I first got mine, they would come out, but wouldnt exactly work the way they should, fan clutches were whipped replaced them and fans worked like a champ.