I recently bought a 97 3.0CL. Now that the cold weather has arrived, I have noticed that it takes a long time to warm up, the air from the heater never feels hot; just warm and the temperature guage only goes up to about 1/4 on the dial.

If this was a car that I was more familiar with I would change the thermostat but I wonder if these are just cold-blooded vehicles. Is my diagnosis is correct and if so, how difficult is it to change the thermostat. I saw in another post that it is where the lower heater hose attaches.

 

i think your thermostat is fine.

its like that with everycar. since its cold its gonna take longer for the car to warm up. and it will also take longer for the heater to blow hotter air.

i drive a million cars at my honda dealership and it like that with every car i drive.

just like in the summer how it doesnt take as long to warm your car up, and the A/C blows hot air at first.

 

Your car should be fine. Its better to run cool than hot. I read that people removed their thermostat so their cars can run cooler during the hot summer months. If your worried, remove the radiator hose and check if the thermostat is there or not. It doesn't hurt to replace the thermostat.

 

your car is fine. Don't screw with the thermostat.

 

I live in warm-moderate climate in Houston. If my temperature gauge doesn't reach normal in 5 minutes, something is wrong. Even in cold temps (< 40F), warmup to normal temp gauge indication is 5 minutes or less. If your gauge stays below normal (perhaps 1/2 or less of normal position) continuously, then a new thermostat is indicated.

You can cross-check your coolant temperature w/ a OBD2 scanner and the Engine Coolant Temperature sensor that is used by the ECU to control fuel and idle when engine is cold. An OBD2 scanner (some scanners) can present the coolant temperature sensed. If it is less than 160F after 15 minutes of driving, then a new thermostat is indicated.

good luck

 

but if he lives in freezing conditions then it will take much longer than 5 mins.

 

My temp gauge only showed it heated up 1/4 of the way until I got my oil changed, now it goes 1/2 way all the time.

 

Does your engine temp guage stay normal? Check your coolant level. Has the same problem after changing my coolant, but found out later that my coolant was leaking and a few times i saw my engine temp guage act up. I check the tightened the drainage plug at the buttom of the radiator and added more coolant, problem solved after that.

Try it out. hope it helps.


Q

 

Old ass thread, but I too noticed my guage only goes to a 1/4 of the way warmed up all the way. Was concerned and searching when I found this! I guess it's normal!!!!!!!!

 

Yes it is, Mine goes a tad higher than 1/4 but I guess that is normal for these cars.

My Integra went to half so thats why I was concerned at first too, but either these blocks have a high tolerance to heat, or that gauge is fubar'd haha

 

Mine is slightly above 1/4 as well but every other car that I've owned including my wifes 95 accord ex sits right below the half mark.

 

heck mine is real low also, its even lower than 1/4. I changed the thermostat and everything but I think mine is because the needle is set to low because it goes way below the line when its not been cranked and should be cold and may move to the line when it warms up. I think if it was set to the line when cold (like I think it should be) it may go about half way when warm. I am going to have to take the dash apart and see. I just hate pulling that needle off because the needle shaft on my old cluster broke while trying to remove the needle

 

No, that is NORMAL for it to be way below the line. Mine is too and my dash is 100% stock and never been taken apart.

You have a pressure leak somewhere most likely, causing the temp to go lower then its supposed to. Check all housings going to the block to be clean for the hoses, and well as your thermostat isn't getting stuck open. Even a brand new one can do this and I have had it happen to me before. Also, if your cap is a bit old, replace it. Mine was shot and it caused a lot of pressure loss.

 

I have taken the thermostat out a few times seeing if it was that and it wasn't. The old one was stuck open but the new one is working correctly. I even put it in a pot of boiling water to watch it open so its not the thermostat. I know my 4th Gen Camaro with the LT1 engine has bleeding screws in the gooseneck and in the lines to belled out the air in them but I don't see anything like that on the Acura
What are you talking about here with all the housings? just the gooseneck or what else are you talking about?

 

No idea why I said housings to be honest... Yes the gooseneck one on the front was giving me bad problems when I did a rad and hose replacement. Too much build up and it wasnt sealing properly causing a nice leak in pressure there.

 

hmm, I don't think I have ever seen a leak in pressure that didn't end up with a leak in water also. Usually if air pressure is coming out there it will force the water out of the leaking area also. It doesn't seem to be losing water at all and do not see any wetness around it either but I guess i will tear it apart when it gets warmer again since its not causing any problems there is no need to fix it right now

 

My 97 CL 3.0 takes a long time to warm up. After driving about 15 mins (into Orange Cty), the coolant temp will drop almost all the way down, to all the way down (noticed it this winter) in certain driving situations & it gets cold in the car. I came up with the thermostat stuck open & my mechanic agrees. Don't know if I'll bother replacing it.