Hi everyone. Thought I'd ask for your insight on a problem I have with my car. It's a 2003 Acura TL-P. a lot of times when I am driving the temperature gauge goes down to the lowest point and the tcs light will turn on. I also feel it starts running about 200 rpm higher than it should. After a minute or so it will go back to the regular temperature. Also if I restart the car it will normally go back to the normal temperature. I was thinking I may need to replace the thermostat. Please let ,e know what you think.

Thanks

 

you know it should stay just below half at all times
Is the rad full? the cap to res bottle has a hose inside that must be attached to its nipple--likes to fall off
does driver side rad fan run at long stoplights. it should
does ac make pass side fan come on?

 

cheap place to start and easy to replace- use genuine Honda dealer thermostat-
how old is coolant, water pump and timing belt?
all done at 105?

 

Water pump, timing belt and coolant was all replaced less thank 6k miles ago. I know the gauge should stay in the middle.

 

Also all of those other things seem to be good. Thermostat isn't expensive but I took a look and it seems almost impossible to access the thermostat on the car.

 

Also I noticed that when the engine is already warm and I restart it this problem appears, the tcs light turns on, temperature gauge is all the way down, and idle is at about 1500 rpm.

 

Yeah, ask the shop who did the T-belt to pressure check the cooling system.

Make sure that the rad's coolant level is up. May have a faulty T-stat ??? Maybe air trapped within the system, a leak, bad cap, etc. Make sure that the fans activate as 01tl4tl previously mentioned.

Buy the "OEM" Honda 2-stage T-stat and go from there !

 

So ended up bleeding the air out the system and all is well now...

Thanks

 

Sometimes it's the simple stuff that is often overlooked. Glad all's well now.
It was good that ya followed up and in turn are able to assist others !!!

 

I replaced my radiator and Im having the same problems now but please tell me how did you bleed out the air?? I tried opening the cap, replacing the cap, replacing the thermostat and sensor, opening the cap until warm on idle and nothing helps. My temp needle still fluctuates. Please Help...

 

grab a copy of the service manual, the procedure is in there.

long story short; the cooling system is sealed, the only way you are going to get air out is by opening the cap, the only way you can open the cap is when the car starts off cold.

take the cap off, start the car turn the heater control to the hottest setting (leave the AC button off so that fans not blowing everything around when you are working in the front of the car) and allow the car to circulate the coolant through the system (which is heater core, engine cooling passages, ATF warmer and radiator). there are a lot of passages AND some of them won't open up (like the lower radiator where the thermostat is) until the car is properly warmed up; so you will have to be patient while this takes place.

They do make a bleeding funnel that connects nicely to the radiator filler that keeps stuff from bubbling over in the engine area as the air bubbles make their way out; I'd probably buy one now since amazon makes getting those type of things convenient and affordable.

 

I can vouch for the bleeding / burping funnel - I thought it was a waste of money for so long but finally got one when fixing up my father's '01 Accord. Damn if that thing doesn't simplify the entire process!