CivicRenModelX

My wife has a 1996 Honda Accord Dx. Last Sunday we were out when she realized her temperature gauge, in the car, wasn't working. Then we went straight to Advanced Auto, where they told us it was the temperature sender. So the next day my wife and me changed the temperature sender. When we turned on the car it start over heating (the gauge in the car was red line) within minutes. So the temperature gauge in the car now works. We turned off the car and went back to Advanced Auto. This time they said it was the thermostat and the thermostat/fan sensor. Well they told us 4 different places that they were located and each time they were wrong. Then my wife called Advanced Auto today and they got really rude with her. So I am giving up on them and asking if anyone on here can help me. The car is in great condition, so it has to be the thermostat and the sensor. If anyone could tell me where they are located and how to change them it would really help. Or if someone could come and help I would be willing to pay. We just really need to get here car running asap. It has already been a week. Please help!!!

p-stone

Follow your radiator hose, it will take you straight to the thermostat. Also, when you replaced your temperature sending unit, did you make sure to bleed the coolant system when you were done. It honestly sounds like you've got air in your system.

BTW, you should have mentioned this today. Lol

CivicRenModelX

Anyone?

aacjohnc

if your changing the themrstat u need to change the water pump as well .. sound like that is what your issue is . if its over heating then its the water pump. if your heat was not working then the themastat would of fixed hat issue but sound like you need a new water pump. if your gonna change that might as well get new belts as well . since yiou have to take them off anyways

Fabrik8

They haven't replaced anything but the coolant temp sensor yet, what are you talking about?

You don't need to change the water pump at the same time, there is no reason to do that. Overheating is usually a fan temp switch or thermostat problem, water pump failure is much, much rarer than thermostat failure. I've had to replace thermostats in every car I've owned, but I've never had a fan switch or coolant temp sensor go bad, or a water pump (which I replace along with the timing belt for safety). I've replaced them on other people's cars though.

What is the original behavior that the temp gauge was displaying, BEFORE the temp sensor was replaced? Was it reading too hot, too cold, or was it just not reading at all?

I'm guessing that there is air in the system, which is why the temp went up so fast. An air pocket around the coolant temp sensor can get to a much higher temp than the surrounding coolant can. Bleed the coolant system first, THEN see if the temp gauge is working properly. You've already bought and installed it, so that should work fine. If you are still having problems, and you notice the car is overheating, see if the fan is coming on. If it isn't, check the fan temp switch. That's easy to check, and easy to replace. If that checks out fine, then it's time to check the thermostat. Once you've got it out, you might as well put in a new one while you're at it; they're cheap and it's good insurance.
Honda water pumps don't usually fail catastrophically, they usually have bearing or seal problems. This should be the last resort to check and replace as they have a very long life usually.

So one thing you can think about while you're trying to troubleshoot this.. If you are driving the car, and it takes longer to overheat, it might be a fan (more likely fan temp switch) problem, because the radiator is getting airflow while the car is moving. If it's overheating once it warms up, no matter whether you're sitting still or driving, it's probably a thermostat problem.

The rule of thumb here is to check and rule out the failure modes in order of cheapest/easiest first to expensive and labor intensive (water pump) last. There really isn't any reason to replace anything blindly though, so you shouldn't just slap new parts on without having some intuition that they actually need to be replaced. If you're sure that the water pump has been replaced along with the timing belt, you can probably skip over that until you rule everything else out.

The fan temp switch, coolant temp sensor, and thermostat are all cheap and easy, and one is already done start troubleshooting..

And don't take advice from people at auto parts stores, they often have no clue what they're talking about. Trust a mechanic, not a parts jockey; anyone can sell auto parts and many of them don't know the first thing about actually working on cars.

CivicRenModelX

Before the temperature sensor was replace the gauge wasn't even working. Today I had help and we replaced all three. So the car has a new coolant temperature gauge, thermostat, and the coolant temperature sensor for the ecm. Also we bleed all the air out and added all new coolant. The car is still red lining even while just standing there. Also coolant is coming out of the exhaust. I am going to replace the ect switch next, to see if that helps but I have to get it from Honda. If anyone else can help or give me advise please do!

Fabrik8

Where out of the exhaust, the tail pipe? That isn't usually coolant, that's usually condensed water and is perfectly normal. What are you basing the coolant assumption on, is it green???

So the fans are never kicking on, even sitting in the driveway without any ambient airflow over the radiator?

CivicRenModelX

Tons of liquid is coming out of the tail pipe, which it has never done before. The fans weren't coming on so we wired the fan to stay on when you have the car running. The car still red lined. The car sound horrible after we replaced everything. The car used to sound really good.

Fabrik8

Sounds like you may have blown a head gasket..? Well, you've replaced the other likely candidates, so you have may a dead water pump, but that wouldn't explain the water from the exhaust. In fact, I can't even think of what path water could take to get into the exhaust, unless it's a really bad head gasket failure. White smoke from the exhuast????

CivicRenModelX

The only other thing is the ect switch. I will replace that first. If that doesn't work then I will try the water pump or head gasket. The car ran fine, then after my wife took it into get inspected, the next day all this happened. I don't know what happened. The car was in perfect condition and we had it check regularly.