Slight little problem. I leave to go to work in the afternoon, (4pm hottest part of the day. 87 to 93+ deg ) and after about 3- 5 min my a/c starts to get warm and temp guage goes 3/4 to the top. while at speed (45 mph) both conditions slightly improve.
When i turn car off fan runs for 10-20 min after.

Figure it is the thermo? Needs to be replaced 104K
Is it ABSOLUTELY necessary to use genuine Honda coolant?

 

thermostat prob stuck. dont know about the coolant though, i replaced mine 2 years ago with prestone off the shelf and its been great though.

 

check your radiator cap, they tend to go bad, mine went bad last year

 

ready for a water pump based on miles- honda coolant better for whatever mystery reasons-
if one radiator hose is hot and the other cold, its a thermostat issue
If the temp goes down with motion and up with load or stopping, its likely got low flow for some reason.
Is it losing coolant?

 

the temp guage going anywhere past the normal 1-2 ticks below half.... is indication of serious problem!!!!-
look at the coolant level and condition- take it to a shop if you are not skilled
That long running fan after shut off- could be the fan sensor in bottem right corner of radiator
It will do that if air is in the cooling system too- done any work on the car lately?

 

The reason why the fan runs for 10-20 mins after is due to the fact that your engine is hot. Fans are battery powered. That's why there is a caution sticker there.

 

I would guess thermostat. I use Acura coolant Tom, as stated in the manual lol but Acura/honda coolant is good stuff. Same product. Nothing wrong with honda fluids in your honda.

 

the driver side radiator fan MAY run a FEW minutes after shutdown- it has a temp sensor in radiator as I described before. More than a few minutes- combined with the temp way above allowable-- is saying something major is wrong
The passenger side fan comes on WITH the AC- make sure that is happening-or big problems

I cannot say loudly enough- temp above 1/2 on the guage is cause for immediate inspect and repair- do not drive~ damage to
If there is an air bubble in the system, it can also mess with the cooling operation and with that temp sensor for that fan-
this extreme of an example is `likely` thermostat- BUT all things must be considered and physically checked.

so first I would see if its down on coolant in the res bottle (make sure hose is attached inside the plastic cap - not fallen into the res bottle itself- that happens and ....) and with engine COLD, open the rad cap and remove carefully- have a rag handy to keep coolant off the paint and everything else- it eats what it lands on!!!!-
inspect its rubber seal for cracks or deep groove marks- the parts store can test it for you for free- just take the cap into the store
Coolant level needs to be right at the top of the filler tube in the radiator- must be above the hole that hose to res bottle connects at on the side- see it?
If its not full in the rad and below MIN on res bottle mark- find out why- !!!

Was the OP in the system for any reason recently-is my first question, and check that fan sensor-
many ziners find a corroded or broken wire or bad ground there.

I admit to using prestone that specifically list `approved for acura` right on the label, while other brands did not- , its in my TL for a test period of time, like- from when I changed it based on car being more than 5 years old before last winter, and now with 85k miles-- and when I do the water pump service sometime when I have a grand or 2 days and a ziner helper to help do it right--
Honda/acura coolant, and power steering fluid-- will be going in my car.
Too many stories and bad experiences from members here to be playing with those 2 fluids.
Love my synthetics of various brands in certain parts of the car- but other stuff....
at honda or private import parts shop, its the same price as most the other good quality names.
For me-- I will get the stuff really made for the car, not just-- works in....

the prestone I already had laying around and wanted to change the coolant one day- then found some kendall (now sold as castrol-gtx) full synthetic engine oil in the garage, its in for a short run and some seafoam with good drive-

Check those fluid levels first- look under the car for any green drips drops or puddles
Try driving without the AC and see if it does the same thing- does the ac blow cold at all or never gets cold, then gets hotter as engine heats?

Note: if you find the temp high one day - in an emergency--- turn the heater ON to MAX heat- that opens the mini radiator that is the heater- it will dump some cold coolant into the system and add additional cooling space
Open the rear windows to suck the hot air out of the car, leave the fronts up- it works!

 

01tl4tl: Sounds risky in light of the beginning of your post- if dangerously high, better to turn off engine than continuing to run and cause severe damage.

 

I'm pretty sure that both fans should come on with the a.c. It does for sure on my 03 type s. Granted, the setup is a little different on the type s. I've checked a few hondas in the last day or two, and without exception, both fans come on with a.c., even with a cold engine.

 

my car has the exact same problem right now. i really dont want to put any more money into my tl. i bought the car at 97k and all i have done so far is dump money in it for maintaince to keep it running but as soon as i do something else needs attention. it now has 122k and im really wanting to get something new. if its not just low coolant even thought i just paid acura dealership to top off the fluids i really might want to let my tl go.

 

If AC got warm AND the engine temp went up at the same time, chances are one of the fans is not coming on. Take it on the freeway at 70mph and if temps get closer to normal, it's a fan.

The other scenario is the engine starts overheating so the computer shuts the AC compressor off to help cool the motor.

On my 06, both fans run when the AC is on. Yours is probably the same way.

The temp guages are usually buffered in the middle. It takes a pretty good temp increase/decrease to get it to move away from normal. If it gets higher than normal, you're probably 25+ degrees hotter than normal so be careful.

01tl is right about the heater trick. It is it's own little radiator and it will help if the car is overheating unless it's severely low on water.

 

Went ahead and changed thermo and coolant. no more probs. thanks