Need troubleshooting strategies and ideas. This to me is a very strange situation. I'll try to explain my problem.
When it's warm or hot outside it seems as though the engine warms up nicely in a reasonable amount of time. The heater will blow warm air, etc. If it's cold out, say in the 30's, it seems to take a lot longer to warm up. The heater won't blow warm and the gauge shows it isn't warm either for a good 15 minutes driving. I've found a few other "shortcuts" on this car, so I assumed the thermostat was probably missing or malfunctioning. I stopped by my Honda dealer and picked up a thermostat and rubber gasket today. Here's where the weird part starts. When I get ready to remove the radiator hose from the thermostat housing I notice that the sending unit doesn't have anything plugged into it. After a few seconds of poking around I found the gray plastic plug with a green and black wire that plugs into the temperature sending unit. But, the plug had a half paper clip stuck in it. Now, how could my gauge be reading anything at all? Would this paperclip touching the side of the block sense when the engine was warm? Man this is crazy. I haven't taken anything apart yet, and am almost afraid to plug this up to the sending unit. I have a new thermostat, I think I'll buy a new temp sending unit and install both at the same time. One other thing, this car had some issues with the cooling system when I bought it. And, evidently still might. I've had a blown head gasket, ruptured heater core and a blown radiator so far.

 

sorry... 95 dx D15B7 all stock.. p.o.s.

 

bump..

 

i have a COUPLE OF SUGGESTIONS FER YA
1. SELL HER
2. NEW ENGINE. NEW RADIATOR.
3. SELL HER
4. FIX HER THEN YEP U GUESSED IT SELL HER

b/c you will still have probs after u fix it i promise.
what the hell is it man. i thknk ppl are just being stupid. i have now met five ppl in the last week that has had this happen to them. am i not paying enough attention each year. or is this a commmon problem in the dead of winter. i know this can happen if you don't warm ur car up in the winter long enough or at all and u run her hard. but damn this is ridiculous.

...BUMP...

 

thank you for your input. i'll take it on advisement.
i live in south georgia and it just doesn't get cold enough to need to "warm up" a car. especially one that is parked in a garage. the car runs great. 36 mpg, and no car payment, i think i'll keep it for a bit. i was just curious about the paper clip device and the temp readout on my gauge.

 

Ok, first of all, what the hell are you talking about 94 Civic Ex? I have seen some ridiculous responses to posts on here, but that one was top 5. You are promising more problems after a new motor? Do you even own a Honda? "Put in a new motor, new radiator, fix it up and sell it." Genius. I also find it hard to believe that you have met five people in the last week with a paper clip stuck in their temp sending unit. And what the hell does your signature mean?

Anyway, Jim, I am not sure what the whole paper clip fiasco is about. It's probably some way to fool the sending unit into detecting normal operating temps, but it doesn't sound right. If you have had cooling probalems in the past then that could be the source. Change the sending unit and thermostat and see if that alleviates any of your problems. From what I understand, the stock temp gauge isn't very sensitive so you may not be getting a very accurate reading. Maybe look into getting an aftermarket temp gauge to keep a closer eye on your problem.

 

Thanks Street Sniper. I think 94 is harmless enough. I feel kind of sorry for him any way since his emblems are falling off and stuff...

I just got back from my road test after replacing some parts. Runs great, warmed up much quicker than before. When I got the thermostat housing off I noticed that they had used the rubber grommet like a gasket instead of inserting the thermostat into it. They had a crap load of orange silicone sealant in there too probably doing more harm than good. Also, the thermostat that was in it had a very weak spring so it was more than likely staying open almost all the time. It was a el cheapo looking lightweight part. I replaced it with a Honda one that is twice as heavy. I also picked up a Honda temperature sending unit. The guys that came up with the paper clip were pretty slick. I can't tell that much difference in the gauge reading. The gauge reads just a little different than before, but not much at all. Time will tell.

The main thing that has caused me problems on my Civic are cheap aftermarket replacement parts. The Honda stuff really is usually much better.