01ACCORD

Okay, I'm not an idiot (ignore what the wife says).

Here's the problem. Car is with my son at college. Little over and hour drive away. So I'm trying to troubleshoot before driving down.

Engine overheats in the drive thru, at lights, etc.

Not sure if it does on the open highway.

Had him check when cool, coolant is there.

Had him get it HOT and check the upper hose, he said it's very warm, but not so warm you can't hold it.

All things in my mind point to either stuck thermostat, or fan not functioning. He's not sure if the fan comes on, but it just started this tonight and it's late.

I'm more incline to think thermostat. So If I travel down, I should get a new thermostat, maybe an upper hose and clamps, and a new rubber gasket. Am I missing anything here?

How much coolant will be lost taking the thermostat out? I will take some, but I don't plan to drain the entire radiator.

Is this easy to get to?

Last but not least, how hard is the electric fan to replace?

Just picking everyone’s brain. It's a real pisser to drive all the way down and find out it was something else, ore even worse, I forgot some simple thing I needed to complete the job.

Civic2Scooby

I would be manned with a bucket, a jack, and a new thermostat.....when you pull the upper hose just jack the car up first and place a clean bucket under to catch the coolant that spills. Then just pull off the thermo housing, replace the thermostat and reverse process....you dont need new upper hose or clamp if it is not leaking or bulging. Also the fan is real east to replace, but if the fan isnt coming on it could be either the Fan unit itself, or the fan switch which is a lil heat activated on/off switch located in the thermostat housing. ummm I think thats all

01ACCORD

Thanks, the hose idea is because I don't think it's ever been changed.

01ACCORD

Well, got an OEM Thermostat for $20, and a gallon of Honda pre-mix coolant,
and headed south for an hour drive to my son's college.

When I got there, the book threw me a curve, as the lower hose actually went
to the thermostat housing, so when I had him check the hose temp, he was
checking the wrong one.

Opened the radiator cap, and it was wet, but no coolant in site.

Removed the coupler going into the thermostat housing and jumpered with a
paperclip and the fan ran (whew!). Still looking like thermostat, so
removed the housing (didn't even have to remove the hose). Popped the new
thermostat in and put about 1/2 gallon of coolant in the radiator. Started
car and let idle. Temp held steady. Had him take a five minute drive, and
when he came back, let it idle for 10+ minutes. Never got hotter than mid
guage. Never got hot enough to kick the fan on so not sure if that switch
has a problem, but he said the heat jumped up in a matter of minutes last
night.

So, new thermostat and coolant top-off stopped the over heating. What
bothers me is there was coolant all over the ground from the night before
when he said it got to the red line. Is this possibly just the blow off
from over heating? We checked again and again and could see no leaks. We
drove it into town, had dinner and then back to the house and no problems.

I left him the other 1/2 gallon of coolant just in case. I'm keeping my
fingers crossed :-)

Thanks for all the input from everyone.