Hey people,

I am new here, but the site looks great. I actually don't own a Honda, but my friends do and I love these cars.
Anyhow, I have a 1995 Honda Civic EX 1.6 VTEC in question. The temperature gauge on the car is always at Cold. It barely moves even in
hours of driving in hot Southern California freeways. It does move a little over time though. I know the coolant circulates so I suspected the coolant temperature sensor, located near the thermostat housing. I replaced it with a brand new one after flushing the radiator and putting in new coolant. The gauge is still reading Cold after the engine gets at normal operating temperature (determined by me, not the gauge). What else could I try? Is there another sensor that might be the cause? Thanks for your help.

 

It's possible that the thermostat needs replacement. Sometime they fail open, and the car will not reach temperature because of the constantly circulating coolant. It's a cheap part and an easy replacement (although it would have been a good idea to do it when you drained the coolant). Replace it, I bet it fixes the problem....

 

Thermostat stuck open is most likely. Usually you can see it when you take the thermostat out. If it is the OEM type of thermostat with a rubber disk on the back end, also that disk can swell up and get jammed in the housing and cause eratic operation.

Should you change the thermostat and it still does it, the engine is probably running at normal temperature but the gauge is wrong. The sensor that drives the gauge is screwed into the end of the head underneath the distributor. It is the little one with a one-wire plug on it. The sensor you replaced on the thermostat housing controls the fan but that does not determine the operating temperature.

 

Maybe your gauge is bad. I would check it with a temp gun.