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Thermostat sticking?

9K views 22 replies 15 participants last post by  DevilDogDoc 
#1 ·
Just bought a pre-owned 2013 Accord Sport with 38 k miles. I'm in the Chicago area so it is pretty cold. The car is acting like the thermostat is sticking. It sat for a while this morning running and the temp gage barely moved above the C mark. After about 20 minutes of driving the gage finally moved to normal. Did it again after car sat and cooled down. .?? Can't believe it wold have thermostat issues already. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks
 
#2 ·
Happened to me last night... It was windy 20 degrees out. Drove and got up to normal temp. Got to where I needed to be and sat for 5 mins, the thermostat dropped. I had the heat and fan on high, fresh air mode. I believe its because the additional cooling from the fan taking in cold air. It takes the engine go up to normal operating temp even longer if you drive and have heat and fan on high.


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#5 ·
Wow, I was going to post about this.

  • Turn car on
  • Let it warm up for 1 min and drive away, turn heat on.
  • Temp gauge moves up about 1/2 to the normal zone, turn heat on and needle drops rapidly..

It does this for a good 15 to 20 minutes WHILE DRIVING. (Low rpm)
I noticed if I give it more throttle the coolant temp doesnt drop as fast..

Is this a problem? I had a camry and that thing was warm within 5 mins, and i NEVER saw the thermostat go down, instead of up
 
#3 ·
Dude, the car will take forever to warm up if it just sits there.

Your thermostat is fine, just drive it after you let it idle for 30 seconds to a minute and it will warm up much faster than that. It was about 20 degrees in Albany this morning, my car was blowing warm air within 2 minutes.

Congrats on your new-to-you accord.

Edit: just saw that your were driving it. Keep an eye on it, if it continues to be a problem, you have a warranty. Good Luck
 
#4 ·
I'm surprised it would drop down toward C even in cold conditions... I was told the temperature gauge isn't directly proportional to the actual coolant temp since modern engines run at very high temperatures for efficiency. The needle is in the center when you're around the normal temperature range for the engine even though the temperature is fluctuating. Maybe Honda didn't do enough testing when programming the needle?
 
#6 ·
Now that the temps have dropped I also noticed that the 9th gen takes FOREVER to reach operational temps. Ive managed to arrive at my destination and the engine isnt fully warmed up.

This could be a thermostat issue or it could be a double edged sword result of the highly efficient engine and CVT combination. Most of the time, my revs are between 1700 and 1200. The CRV we have requires you to be above 2500 rpm just to keep with the pace of traffic. That car reaches operational temps within half a mile of driving even with the heat on full blast.

Maybe keep it in sport mode for the first bit to keep the revs around 2k or more?:dunno:
 
#7 ·
Now that the temps have dropped I also noticed that the 9th gen takes FOREVER to reach operational temps. Ive managed to arrive at my destination and the engine isnt fully warmed up.

This could be a thermostat issue or it could be a double edged sword result of the highly efficient engine and CVT combination. Most of the time, my revs are between 1700 and 1200. The CRV we have requires you to be above 2500 rpm just to keep with the pace of traffic. That car reaches operational temps within half a mile of driving even with the heat on full blast.

Maybe keep it in sport mode for the first bit to keep the revs around 2k or more?:dunno:
This. Simply put. Enough said. Nothing more, nothing less.
 
#9 ·
Lower engine speed = less heat

Same reason for a fast idle when the engine is cold, ie. The engine idles at 1500 vs 750 on a cold start. This accord can cruise and accerate at much much lower engine speeds compared to previous gens thanks to the CVTand boost in torque.
 
#11 ·
Most likely a salesreps car. One of my vendor reps has a 2013 Fusion that she took delivery of in Feb of 2013, as of 3 weeks ago it had 44,000mi on it. She gets a new car every 60,000mi.

Jay
 
#22 ·
Whatever the C column is, I want to be in that. If that's a 'smog Nazi' state, then Sieg Heil!
 
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