mxmattd

my temperature gauge is usually about a third of the way up from the bottom (cool). I noticed when i'm stopped and idling for a few minutes, the needle goes up to half-way, sometimes higher. It has never overheated however (no boiling over, warning lights, hasn't gone all the way up to H)

anyone else experience this?

btw, i can sometimes hear coolant sloshing for a quick second when i start up my car. it sounds a lot like when i had air trapped in the cooling system of my mustang. possible culprit?

MMsTSX

what year is the car?

how many miles on it?

Simba91102

I've read here of guys reporting that sound, but I don't recall ever reading an explanation. Even though the system is under pressure (when warm), I should think any air could escape through the overflow reservoir (which isn't) on its' own. I'm having trouble getting my head around an air blockage in a cooling system, but I'm no expert and I guess it can happen. Assuming you've checked the coolant and it isn't low, I'd suspect perhaps a matériel blockage in the system, thermostat, or the sending unit is bad (unlikely). I do agree there's something going on though, the gauge of my 05 (and the 07 for that matter) quickly rises to the normal level you've indicated and stays there come hell or high water.

dwest1023

Sounds like you have air in your system. You should not be hearing any sloshing.

mxmattd

thanks that's what i wanted to hear.

it's an 04 6 speed, just rolled over 90,000 miles

i'll have to try to get to the bottom of it.

LukeaTron

Think of the trap under your sink. Now think of it upside down with air replaced by coolant and the water with air. The bubble slows or prevents the flow of fluid through the trap.

mxmattd

this was a major problem on my mustang, made driving anywhere during the summer very nerve racking.

what do you think to force the air out? park uphill, heater on, revving the engine a bit while adding coolant directly to radiator?

PACman

In the owners manual, there's instructions on how to drain and replace with new coolant. Also, there's a procedure outline on here; just gotta run a search for it.

mxmattd

Yep, should have searched. Got lazy this time

I want to post more on here and get involved, but it seems like all of my questions have already been asked and answered!

Anyway, here's the coolant drain and fill procedure from another thread if anyone is curious.

Hopefully doing this will solve my issue.

PACman

I'm often amazed at how many motor heads we have on our forum. More often than not the information on here is more trust worthy than what the dealer says.

euroStyle

what does "10. Run through heat cycles" mean?

PACman

Warm car up to operating temp.

mxmattd

how many cycles would be sufficient?

mxmattd

Absolutely agree. I've never been able to trust the dealers, always feel like I'm getting a load of bs. The fact is, other consumers have no financial incentive to rip me off, and like you said there are a lot of dedicated people here who really know what their talking about.

PACman

You can't go wrong from repeating the cycles; adding coolant as needed until you no longer see air.

nbtx

Both fans should run with the A/C on which should keep the temps under the half-way point. If this checks out, look for trash in the radiator - you should be able to see through it. Next, it's possible the thermostat is not opening fully which is a rare failure mode but I have seen it happen. Tell us what you find.

BTW, my 06 has never gone over about 40% above cold in 24k miles. Cool runner.

Simba91102

This is a good point, and mentioned first here. Make sure the fans are operating when called for. Some cars you can hear them cycle on and off, but I don't think you hear them in the TSX (I don't anyway).

mxmattd

I'll definately check on the fans when I get a chance. Most of the time when this has happened, however, the A/C is not even turned on. It's happened once or twice in VERY heavy traffic (405 in Sepulveda pass at 5 p.m. on a Friday before a three day weekend= nightmare) and a few times when I'm just idling for a few minutes, waiting for a friend or something.

nbtx

Completely normal then. If the A/C isn't on, the fans don't run until the coolant gets up to a programmed temperature (like 225 degrees F). FWIW, I've tried to get mine to do that by parking next to the garage and let it run in the hot TX sunshine and the gauge didn't budge. It looks like the cooling system in these cars has a lot more margin than my 91 Corvette.

npolite

Originally Posted by moda_way
1. Warm up engine.
2. Turn off.
3. Remove lower plastic tray
4. Remove drain plug from bottom of radiator
5. Drain as well as reservoir
6. Replace plug
7. Open Radiator cap
8. Fill with Honda Type 2 Coolant
9. Loosely put cap on
10. Run through heat cycles
11. Fill missing fluid from radiator
12. Cap.
13. Fill reservoir
14. Check in a few weeks

I hope you have some common sense not to follow steps 1 and 2. You want to make sure your radiator is cold before attempting to pull the radiator cap off.

If you haven't replaced the coolant since you purchased the car I would recommend that you drain and fill it. After you fill it up leave the cap off and start the engine. Turn on the heat full blast and let the car warm up. Keep adding antifreeze until the car warms up and then cap the radiator. Check the reserve level in 2-3 days and add some more.

nbtx

They're very quiet - You can hear them inside the cabin if you know what to listen for
but they can be easily heard if you are outside near the hood area.

nbtx

Look again, the cap isn't removed (step 7) until the radiator has been drained (step 4).

LukeaTron

^^^ If you don't warm the engine up enough for the thermostat to open, a large portion of the old fluid and any air trapped in there with it will not be replaced.

mxmattd

Aha, I think this explains why I could never fully get the air out of my mustang. Thanks for all the useful info guys

npolite

The system's under pressure if it is warmed up. If you drain it while it is hot not to mention that the water scalding you will do all over the place. The thermostat is located on the upper hose. The lower hose should get most of the water that is trapped in the engine out.