The weather has recently risen to over 90 degrees here and I've noticed some funny things happening to my 1997 Accord LX. It started about a week ago... I noticed when I stopped and got out... it sounded like my car was still running. It was only a fan still going... I didn't know if this was normal or not. Today... I noticed the tempature gauge rise over the halfway mark... It seems to be inconsistent though... Up and down... up and down.

Anyway... I travel alot for work... so I need this car. What do I need to look for before I take my baby to a mechanic?

 

check there's coolant in the radiator..if start the car turn the a/c on and see if both fans work. if ok shut the a/c off run the car until it get to half if the fans don't come on by then check the fan switch and thermostat

 

So you're basically saying that it could possibly be a bad thermostat or fan switch?

 

I drove it today... and had to pull over twice because it was in the red. I opened the hood and there was antifreeze all over the place. What does this mean? Sorry I don't much about cars. Thanks.

 

There are several things that might have gone wrong, some cheap to fix and some not so cheap. The cheapest and most obvious would be hoses. One of the heater hoses might have ruptured, causing loss of fluid all over the compartment. There are 3 or 4 different heater hoses to check. The next possibility might be either the lower or upper radiator hose failed, causing antifreeze to be sprayed all over the engine compartment. Another possibility might be a defective radiator cap, releasing pressure before it is designed to. These possibilities are the cheap and easy fixes. I would bet your problem is one of these conditions.
The thermostat may be sticking closed, causing overheating. Another possibility might be the water pump failing to pump enough antifreeze to cool your engine, causing it to overheat. A leaking head gasket, cracked cylinder bore or head would also cause overheating. These conditions would contaminate the engine oil, so if your oil looks normal, the fault is probably not one of these conditions. Good luck.

 

That's the one thing I've heard with overheating issues... It's either really cheap... or extremely expensive.

Update: So I got it home... Put some water in it... Drove 55mph for about 15-20 minutes and it stayed below the halfway mark. The fan only seem to run when the car stops. Is that another possible issue? Also... When I turn the heat up in park... and rev the engine... the thermostat kicks in and cools it down. It seems to run hotter in park/idle. Thanks... I thought I'd give this one last try before I take it to a f'in mechanic.

 

if it goes into the red I wouldn't recommend driving it until that problem is fixed as a $100 problem can end up being a $2000 one if the radiator was full before you overheated it as when a car overheats coolant is pushed out fills the overflow then onto the ground if the fans didn't come on I would guess the fan switch ,or bad fans (check by turning a/c on) or thermostat ..the thermostat and fans switch are pretty cheep and a easy DIY job and recommended if the car got hot because they can be damaged from overheating ..

 

yeah my car is overheating too because one of the fans dont work but i dont know how to tell if the fan doesnt work or if its just the fan switch or the thermostat... any one know how to check what it is