2001 CL S-Type ..... Too Hot
 

First post, have done a lot of reading over the past few days. I picked up an '01 with 170K miles on it, wasn't aware of the faulty tranny history of CL's but currently the car is shifting with no hiccups. I did a VIN search on recalls and the Acura site came up with zero. I'm still sweating over it though.
I have no service records but was told the serpentine belt was recently replaced, with the alternator and a couple other components I can't recall - they're written down at home. I currently have a fault code of P0131 for Bank 1 Sensor 1 (O2 sensor). Had that when I bought it. It was a $2100 car, c'mon...


A different issue is a concern now. When I bought the car 5 days ago, I drove it 100 miles to get it home - A/C on all the way. The temp gage read between 50-75% on the trip, mostly all highway, which seemed to read a bit hot but not to where I was real concerned.
A couple days ago, since it was empty and with a cold engine, I added coolant to the reservoir, just to below the MAX fill line. The radiator was full when I removed the cap.


Driving into work this morning, A/C off, the temp gage kept climbing. I turned on the heat and the fan up to max but was not getting any warm air in the car. I pulled off the road into a parking lot as steam was coming out from under the hood and cut the engine. I lifted the hood, the steam had stopped fairly quick and I could see some coolant that had come from somewhere and was on the rad and a few other locations. The drivers side fan was still running, the pax side was not running. I grabbed the hose on top of the rad and it was pretty hot but the hose going to the bottom of the rad was pretty cool. The top of the engine was pretty cool too, considering I had just driven 10 miles. Not plastic but the top of the engine.
I haven't seen any coolant dripping or running anywhere, it was too dark this morning to see much but I had a small flashlight.


I've read several over temp threads and I have gotten a bit of info overload.
- Check the rad cap but what am I looking for?
- Might need burped. A specific method...
- Check the fans and fuses along with their relays. How to check a relay? Both fans will spin, but the drivers side runs after engine shut off. It did this when I bought it but I thought it was both fans, maybe it wasn't.
- Maybe a temp sensor. Locations(s)?
- Possible t-stat
- Possible water pump


Any other thoughts or direction is appreciated.
Thanks.

get a new primary O2 sensor. That can affect gas mileage. Then get a new thermostat and rad cap. Start with those and report back.

I have the O2 sensor, any other misc parts I need for the t-stat other than a gasket?
BTW, where can a find a good pic of the location of the sensor?
Thanks.

A better question might now be, where is the thermostat?
On the top hose or on the bottom hose?

On the cap there should be a stainless steel retainer holding down the rubber seal.

Install thermostat with the pin on top.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...7f6719d66d.png

Thermostat - upper hose.

Both fans will be running on high/fast with the a.c. set to coldest and recirculation.

Burping

Set the heat to high to open the heater valve (key on or run car). Add coolant then burp.

Burpe the system by putting on the cap half way (first click) and then running the car untill the fans come on at least twice.

Then turn car off and top off coolant. Install cap to full lock.

That should work.
Thanks acls.

Car is in the driveway now, hopefully no serious issues.....

Don't forget to check for debris in front of rad, in between the rad/condenser, and in between the rad/fans.

It's not enough to just look for debris, you need to make sure the fins themselves are not clogg.

Got the t-stat changed, removed some leaves and some fuzz from around and on the radiator, changed the O2 sensor and burped her. Idled for 10-15 min in the driveway, drove for about 10 min with the A/C off and it got as high as 70-75% but dropped to around 50% fairly quickly.
The car does run a little rough, not sure why, didn't have that issue previously. Any thoughts on that?
Oil needs changed, not milky, just closer to black.
Both fans come on with A/C and recirc on and when I shut off the engine, the drivers side fan stays on. Good?
I still have the CEL and MAINT lights lit on the dash, I suppose I have to do something to clear those??
Thanks.

Reset the maintenance lamp by holding down both buttons (reset & select) and then turning ingition to the on position (dash lights on... Not cranking engine). The light should reset.

Reset the CEL by pulling the Clock Fuse for 10 seconds.

Rough idle could be anything. Start by cleaning the throttle body.

By now you should recheck the coolant level, reburp if still running warm. Top off the over flow reservoir.

Look for leaks under the hood and on the ground for a week or so.

Thanks acls.
The rough idle is now gone, maybe the car just needed to reprogram or something along those lines.
I drove it to work this morning, kind of cool out and raining and I'd say the gage eventually read around 80%+, too hot, but didn't overheat. It got this hot waiting in traffic for roughly 10 min, climbed up there and stayed there.
I'll recheck coolant level tonight and see where things are, also try the burping again as well.

Seriously, don't drive the car anymore if its running hot like that. You're basically rolling the dice on the motor.

Now you are stuck at work. It's a risk to drive it home now. If you are going to drive it. Go ahead and check the coolant level and burp it again at work. Wait till traffic dies down before leaving work.
Turn the heater on max hot/fan during the drive home.

Did you turn on the heater when filling up the coolant and burping?

At this point I would replace the rad cap before driving home. Check the coolant to see if its low. Bum a ride to a parts store.

Now you need to determine if the car is actuall over heating or is it a false temperature reading? When it's running hot, squeeze the upper rad hose, if it's rock hard and the engine bay hot... like a oven, then it is over heating.

Did you check in between the rad/condenser for debris making sure the fins are clear?

I understand the issue and agree with your point. After checking things over during the weekend, I really thought it was mostly resolved. I did take a drive at lunch, mostly highway speed and stayed around 50%, climbed to maybe 75% for just a little and then came back down to 50% for the largest portion of the time. I ran the A/C for the duration. I drove home after work, stayed between 50-75%, closer to 50% for most of the trip.


I misread your post and did not turn on the heater to burp it. However, I re-burped tonight after adding coolant to the rad and the reservoir, (it was a low in the rad and none in the reservoir) heat on full and let the fans cycle twice, then shut it off. Not cool enough to open the cap yet. One problem I'm noticing is that I'm getting no heat out of the vents, regardless of engine temp. At least right now.

I have a new cap from Autozone, will try it as well.

After running this afternoon in the driveway, both hoses got very hot once the fans kicked on and the the temp gage got no higher than 50%. I ran the car around 10-15 min.

I cleared out some leaves between the rad/condenser and sprayed some fuzz off the rad with the hose over the weekend. Not sure if you'd call it clogged, but several fins look kind of smashed, or pushed together.

I should be on the bike tomorrow, no rain in the forecast.
Thanks for the input on this.

You need to get the heater valve open in order to get all the air out.

The heater valve is under the hood on the passenger side at the firewall. Sometimes the valve gets stuck. Try lubing it with some oil and assist the cable with your hand to free it up if possible.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...560485a5db.png


The HVAC has a self diagnostic feature, run the self test and see what comes up.



https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...dfd4c97b22.png




https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...faa71c8a90.png

Good stuff 01acls!

UPDATE:
It looks like the t-stat change and burping has resolved the issue, at least for now. I'd say I burped it 3 times total, but most likely, once correctly. I was low a good bit of coolant, which would account for the wild swings in the temp gauge needle. I haven't gotten to the heater control issue yet, but soon. Got all the dash lights reset, now as long as they stay off...
Thanks for all the help - particularly 01acls.

Just an FYI for down the road- swapping out your radiator is easier than you would think. I replaced mine because of a few leaks and an overheats at 190k and she runs cool now, actually about a notch lower than I ever saw. (so it runs at about 8:45 if the temp gauge was the hour hand on clock) Aftermaket rads are less than a hundred bucks that take a couple hours, tops, to change out and I just used the my same "new" fluid I had just replaced earlier.

Started looking into my no heat issue since it's getting cooler..
I found the valve cable under the hood but not under the dash yet, and I checked fuses and they all checked good. I also ran the diagnostics shown above and it kicked out 2 problems.
F - A short in the sunlight sensor circuit
G - An open in the evaporator temperature sensor circuit

Any input on what to do with those?
Thanks.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...8e78115bdc.png

Sounds like you have defective sensors or an open wire/corroded connections.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...bf3fed8738.png


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...718240481f.png

Any suggestions on how to get to the evaporator temp sensor? Is it up under the dash?

Looks like its it's behind the center console so remove that for access.

There's a video on how to remove the radio in YouTube. Seach for it. Try Grom bluetooth... then look for a 20 min video but its not from Grom it's by another company.

Not to jump too far ahead, but would either of these sensors cause the car to not blow warm air?

In auto mode sure. Manual not sure.