is it my thermostat or is it normal?

2273 Views 27 Replies 13 Participants Last post by cpgoose, Feb 16, 2003

sleepy gsr

Discussion Starter · Jun 26, 2002

When i let my car run it seems as if the fan never comes on and i was wondering if this is normal. my friends celica will turn every few minutes when just idling but mine will not....another thing is that if i turn on the ac both of the fans will turn on and if i turn it off they both turn off. i was thinking that the thermostat was broken....o and the temp never goes past half so its not over heating is... a 94 gsr thanks a lot

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

ToDa003

· #2 · Jun 26, 2002

your car sounds fine to me...

but i think there that on one of the maintaince, you're supposed to change your theromastat... check your manual

swiftllamagone

· #3 · Jun 26, 2002

if thermostat and fans are working adequately, your temp should get to about 40% of the way up the scale and stick there like glue...

our cars don't run the fan a whole lot compared to some cars... i've noticed that too... as long as it keeps itself cool, there is no cause for alarm

Gvtec

· #4 · Jun 26, 2002

Both fans come on when the AC is present, as it's used to keep the condenser from freezing up.

Mine rarely comes on either.

lenguaso

· #5 · Jun 26, 2002

Same here. I've been worrying about it now that summer is here.

xinzhangcrash

· #6 · Jun 27, 2002

Me too was worrying about my fan today,
It never runs! My thermostat is rated as 79C, which means about 176F, is it the stock rate?

And I don't have the condense fan, is it criticle?

JustinKlemgold

· #7 · Jun 27, 2002

Yeah, mine never runs either, and I am just wondering, why is that? Do we have a different cooling system or something? I mean, I've had cars where that thing came on quite a bit, whats the difference here? I know the car heats up faster than any other car I've had, but once it's there, it sticks...

It doesn't worry me at all, I'm just curious.

xinzhangcrash

· #8 · Jun 27, 2002

Mine stays at about 30%, not 40% from low end, and
it does stick there when I drive fast, but when I slow down, the pointer raise up to the 40% point.
I guess that's because not enough wind to cool the radiator down.

sleeperls93

· #9 · Dec 29, 2002

I saw this old post, and instead of starting a new thread, I figured I would ask a question in regards to the same theme;

I noticed that the temperature gauge, tends to go down after the car is running, mostly on the freeway, granted it is cold out, but is it normal for the temperature gauge to go down, after being fully warmed up?

Is this a symptom of a bad thermostat?

98Integra

· #10 · Dec 29, 2002

in regards to your statement about driving on a freeway, it is a lot easier on a car to run on the freeway than in traffic, you don't have the stop and go accelerating so a car will run easier, thus, slightly cooler. also, when you are on the freeway your car is getting a hell of a lot more air than in traffic

sleeperls93

· #11 · Dec 30, 2002

Yeah, but it goes down, like halfway of were it should be? It seems a little low even though it is like 35 degrees out... I know thermostats are cheap, but it isn't that cheap if you include labor charges at acura.

Gvtec

· #12 · Dec 30, 2002

If your car is a '93 and has an original thermostat, I'd say it's ready for one or getting close.

sleeperls93

· #13 · Dec 30, 2002

I figured that much; since the car has been with me I have never replaced the thermostat, maybe the original owner did; but it's probably time for a new one.

Although, it seemed fine today..

dwolsten

· #14 · Dec 30, 2002

I just replaced the thermostat in my 94. It was acting similar to yours; it wouldn't heat up quickly, and would vary between 0 and 40%. I replaced it and now it acts like it used to: heats up quickly to 40%, and stays there.

The thermostat costs less than $10, and if you have an hour or two and can turn wrenches you can do it yourself. I recommend draining a gallon of coolant first to reduce the mess (if it's fairly new coolant you can put it back in afterwards; just use a clean container).

I would like to add, though, that they sure made the thermostat hard to get to. It's not impossible, but it took me a while with a straight 10mm wrench. It helped to remove the air intake tubing first.

cpgoose

· #15 · Jan 17, 2003

This is just the question I was going to ask...about
getting to the thermostat. I guess dwolsten has a G3,
but I thouht they were at the end of the upper radiator
hose...and in G2s at the end of the lower hose.

I just attempted to do it last night, and could barely
get to the bolts to turn them...just barely. I ran out
of time and gave up. Is there some kind of trick or
hint or something? You mentioned removing the
air intake tubing first....do you mean totally, or
just at one end. I didn't want to remove the end
that goes to the engine for fear that I wouldn't put
everything back right.

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Street_Dreemz

· #16 · Jan 17, 2003

hey goose dont worry about putting everything back right thats what we're here for lol. naw its really easy in G2's you have your intake tubing that connects to the manifold and the stock box that is if you dont have cold air or ram air if you have that it depends on wether you have two piece cold air one piece cold air or a ram air. it really doesnt matter all you do is put the tubing in and tighten the screws down. to the mainfold and the intake tubing.

as far as your thermostat gauge you do have to take the tubing all the way out. after that get the right size socket and a u-joint adapter(some people call them swivel joints.. theres a variety of names for them.) and just ease your way down there. you may need an extension but this should work for you.

good luck and if you have any other questions, ask.

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cpgoose

· #17 · Jan 17, 2003

hehe. Ok, I have another....(by the way...I have stock tubing

You don't have to remove the lower radiator hose from
the thermo housing right? Just remove the two bolts
from the housing, and pull it back to expose the thermostat?

Oh, and since it sounds like you did this before, did you
flush the coolant, too? I see for the bolt on the
engine to release the coolant, it tells you how many
pounds to tighten it....so I was just curious about
that too. If I'm going to go through the trouble of
the thermostat, figured I might as well flush.

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dwolsten

· #18 · Jan 17, 2003

cpgoose on Jan/17/03 said:
This is just the question I was going to ask...about
getting to the thermostat. I guess dwolsten has a G3,
but I thouht they were at the end of the upper radiator
hose...and in G2s at the end of the lower hose.

I just attempted to do it last night, and could barely
get to the bolts to turn them...just barely. I ran out
of time and gave up. Is there some kind of trick or
hint or something? You mentioned removing the
air intake tubing first....do you mean totally, or
just at one end. I didn't want to remove the end
that goes to the engine for fear that I wouldn't put
everything back right.

The thermostat is at the end of the lower hose in the G3 as well; I think the differences between the B18B engines in the G2 and G3 are very minimal. I had a lot of trouble changing mine as well; I used a straight wrench, and just had to have a lot of patience. PITA. I tried a socket wrench, but mine were too large to get in there. I removed the air intake tubing entirely just to have room to work; it doesn't take long to do.

cpgoose

· #19 · Jan 17, 2003

did you do the coolant when you did this dwolsten?
I'm assuming once you get off the thermo housing cover,
a whole lot of fluid will start coming out?

Street_Dreemz

· #20 · Jan 17, 2003

you can do tha coolant but you dont need too. make sure you dont retighten the bolts on the houseing too tight. you can crack the houseing(thats expirience talking). and no you dont have to remove the hose but it is a lot easier to. i would recomend(sp) this. one reason is you have to line up the gasket and the new thermostat just right and they are a ***** to line up right. they like to fall and move and slip out. and its a pain to try to keep them straight when you have the bottom radiator hose on.

if you have any more questions PM me.

good luck its pretty easy and you'll have fun working on your car.

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

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