I took some actual temps. on my cooling system

[offthahook]

Well, my temp. gauge gets pretty damn high for a Honda. WAY over half at times, but never in the "danger" zone. I added factory cruise and dude who did that chore took out my gauges and swapped speedometers only. The speed sensor on the LX's, which had factory cruise, is in the speedo. head itself, so that was necessary. Personally, I would have just swapped out the whole gaugeset with the LX one. But he actually used my old gauges except for the speedo...

I have replaced the thermostat and it has an OEM Honda one in there. I replaced the radiator, upper and lower hoses, new coolant. Water pump is maybe a year old. NO leaks, no oil in the radiator and vice versa, no smoke, no smell. The gauge just gets WAY too high for my tastes. The few people I talked to think the gauge is off a little bit, probably when dude did his swapping. I guess the fuel and temp. gauges are VERY sensitive and not really meant to be ever messed with. He didn't mess with the temp or fuel gauges themselves, but maybe the temp. gauge just got tweaked in the whole process.

So, I idled it for about 30 minutes and it's probably 70 degrees in my garage. Here are the results taken by my handy dandy laser, hand held point thermometer:

After about 5 minutes, I began taking readings.

140-160 at the radiator neck (L shape) after the fans run a cycle
162-174 at the valve cover. Didn't really matter about the fans running or not
125-130 at the upper radiator hose after the fans cycle
155-160 on the upper "tank" part of the radiator. Shaped like a hill...
100-106 at the cap after the fans cycle
150 at the fan shroud (metal part) after fan cycle


130-135 at the upper hose between fan cycling
155 at the fan shroud between fan cycles
160-170 at the radiator neck between fan cycles
108-111 at the cap between cycles


I know you're saying that I should have left the cap off to measure the coolant temp. itself and used the 11:1 D to S reading for better accuracy and whatnot. It started out like that, but the coolant was running out of the neck in the first couple minutes. The car has been sitting for 2 or 3 days in the garage. I put the cap back on and just took various readings in those 20-25 minutes on everything around the fluid (as close as I could get). Both fans run and cycle on/off as they should and there was no AC on. SO, looking at all that I think I'm good, right? The guy at Honda said if it gets over 195, be concerned. I thought it was 185 when the thermostat kicked on, but nothing ever got close to those numbers (and I took readings almost constantly). Of course, he assumed I could beam up the coolant itself. Could the coolant at the neck, inside the radiator, be 30 degrees hotter than the neck itself? That would be significant, but everything seems just fine except that damn gauge!

[Ichiban]

I believe that the aluminum system fittings and copper radiator tank will transmit heat efficiently enough that your readings are accurate. None of those temps seem out of line, but if you are still concerned, I would recommend you remove the factory temp sending unit, and install a temporary mechanical gauge and test again. You can also test the sending unit with a multimeter, and possibly the gauge as well.

[offthahook]

Yeah, I'm satisfied with the way it idled and the fans working properly. Probably just get in there one day and replace the gauges.

Not that it matters, but I took measurements right before I shut it down. So, these are after about 25 minutes of idle time:

Upper hose 132
Neck 168
Valve cover 166
Cap 113
Upper tank 158
Fan shroud 141

Now having said all this, watch it overheat on me.

[2ndGenGuy]

Yeah, I'm satisfied with the way it idled and the fans working properly. Probably just get in there one day and replace the gauges.
Not that it matters, but I took measurements right before I shut it down. So, these are after about 25 minutes of idle time:
Upper hose 132
Neck 168
Valve cover 166
Cap 113
Upper tank 158
Fan shroud 141
Now having said all this, watch it overheat on me.

I would still be nervous unless I knew 100% for sure. I'd just go buy one of those old analog thermometers for a couple bucks and stick it down in the radiator. Just to be safe.

Though I think the ES2 is slightly less picky than the older e-series engines. When I first bought my car, it would heat up pretty bad due to a bad water pump. I would let it run really hot, but not dangerously hot, before shutting it off. It was only a problem in drive-thrus and whatnot, but still it got way up on the temp gauge. As long as it doesn't hit the top, you should be okay.

[offthahook]

I would still be nervous unless I knew 100% for sure. I'd just go buy one of those old analog thermometers for a couple bucks and stick it down in the radiator. Just to be safe.
Though I think the ES2 is slightly less picky than the older e-series engines. When I first bought my car, it would heat up pretty bad due to a bad water pump. I would let it run really hot, but not dangerously hot, before shutting it off. It was only a problem in drive-thrus and whatnot, but still it got way up on the temp gauge. As long as it doesn't hit the top, you should be okay.

True true and true. Thing is, the coolant was running outof the filler neck after about 30 seconds. I was originally planning on getting a meat thermometer (with the old school probe) and sticking it in the radiator to get the REAL coolant temp. Then, I thought of the laser pointer non contact thermometers and got one for like $55. The laser pistol thermometer is accurate and easy to use, but I can't leave the cap off the radiator! Is there a way to test a water pump? The only way I have ever "tested" a water pump is when it's loud or leaks a lot, replace it.

[Ichiban]

...somehow this became a double post.

[Ichiban]

BTW I meant multimeter, not micrometer. Oops.

The only real way to test the water pump is to remove and inspect it. As long as the shaft turns on the bearing freely and without excessive axial and radial play, and the impeller blades have not rotted off, physics would indicate it should work. If the seal leaks at all, replace the pump, as the leak is washing out the bearing lubricant and failure is imminent.

[offthahook]

BTW I meant multimeter, not micrometer. Oops.

Yeah, I meant to ask you how a micrometer would work on a sending unit. I guess if you needed exact physical measurements... I figured you meant muli meter unit.

[2ndGenGuy]

How much coolant was running out of the filler neck? That could be a bad sign if it's excessive, and would explain the high temperatures. You're not adding coolant at all are you?

I did a coolant flush on my car, and the service manual says to leave the cap off until the thermostat opens, so you can top it off. I never had any flowing out, even after topping it off. Only time I saw the radiator do that was on the CRX with the blown head gasket... Maybe you just have some air in there, hopefully you're not blowing any exhaust into the coolant.

I found that if you don't follow the procedure for flushing the coolant as specified in the Helm manual, the car will run kinda hot. You gotta have the heat on in the car, and remember to bleed it using the bleeder valve...

[offthahook]

Not a lot was running out, but enough that I didn't want to let it keep going. The same shop that did the AC work did the coolant. I would say they are qualified, but I didn't witness the procedure. I know you're supposed to use the bleeder screw, but I don't know if they did. I figure it'll get flushed and filled soon enough "by the book". I would say it runs as it should, just the gauge says it is a little high on the temp. gauge.

[Ichiban]

It's normal for the coolant to overflow the radiator as the engine warms up. On the other hand, if you start it and the coolant pukes everywhere....well, you're probably driving a GM 350 with 2 cracked heads like I was.