2005 Accord 2.4 not warming up in cold weather?

[gonefishing]

I've owned my 2005 Accord since late March this year. I installed a ScanGauge 2 shortly after. One of the parameters I monitor is engine coolant temp. In the summer it usually settles around 195 and the highest I've seen is 204 (A/C on hot day..fans kick in and starts to go back down). Recently it has started to cool off here. I had a 200 mile one way trip last week with temps starting out a -5F with a peek around 10F later in the morning. The engine temp never exceeded 185 (driving on interstate with some stops/slow downs for poor road conditions).

Last night was cool again (about 3) and after idling in the work parking lot for about 5 minutes, I drove 2 miles to McD's. While sitting in the drive thru, the temp was about 155 when I got there. I actually watched the temp drop to 150 and by the time I left it was 145. Keep in mind I did have the heat on with the blower all the way up. Another 2 miles to home and the temp has risen to about 175 before shutting the car off. I've seen this pattern a few times (dropping temps when idling after driving). The car seems to warm up to the low hundreds pretty quickly but after that it's pretty slow to gain any more ground.

Could the thermostat not be functioning correctly?

 

[NateDN10]

That's normal. The engine does not generate much heat when idling.

That behavior is exactly what I see in my Cobalt, even down to the thermostat setpoint. Mine may be a couple degrees higher than yours.

 

[cptbarkey]

i've never lived up north, but in general i think its difficult to get a vehicle up to normal temperature. from my brief experience with a cummins diesel down here in texas i would image it would take an hour or so up there LOL

 

[SatinSilver]

I'd replace it with an oem version of course. One of the guys on another forum who works on these cars for a living recommends it now as part of the 105k maintenance. I'd replace the pcv valve also with an oem version. Below is an example of an 03 I4 with 122k on it.

Quote:
The cold engine "diesel" sound isn't usually valves, it's piston slap.

The older they get, the more the sound is pronounced.

The valves should have been gone over at 110k. They usually stay pretty well in adjustment. *** Make sure the cams are in good shape, yours is an early one.

Did you change the coolant? (already mentioned by others) I'd also do the thermostat too.

The water pumps seem to hold up very well, I've seen one with a bad bearing, and a member on here had the pulley break up.

As long as you have a Denso alternator, they should hold up very well. The starters, well I've heard of some problems and they are a pita to change as the intake has to come off.

 

[eljefino]

yeah the heater will take your engine heat out if it's just idling. My saturns do the same thing, particularly going down hill in gear (decel fuel cutoff).

Is your dash gauge hanging in the middle zone? That is dampened by the computer, and I'd only worry about a t-stat if the dash gauge visibly dipped.

You could also consider a partial "winter front" blocking the rad if you're consistently cold, which I'd expect in ND. Easiest way is to wedge some cardboard between the condenser and radiator covering about 1/2 its square footage. I try and get the vast expanse not covered by the fan or to at least not cover the fan completely.

Your thermostat still sounds like its working but the winter front helps move the average underhood temp up a little bit and the thermostat will spend more time in the happy middle instead of almost closed.

 

[surfstar]

Thermostat may still be fine...hmm.
Grill block for winter! Look into this at the ecomodder or gassaver forums. Depending on grill design, you might be able to just slide some foam in, like many Prius owners do for winter time.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: gonefishing
I've owned my 2005 Accord since late March this year. I installed a ScanGauge 2 shortly after. One of the parameters I monitor is engine coolant temp. In the summer it usually settles around 195 and the highest I've seen is 204 (A/C on hot day..fans kick in and starts to go back down). Recently it has started to cool off here. I had a 200 mile one way trip last week with temps starting out a -5F with a peek around 10F later in the morning. The engine temp never exceeded 185 (driving on interstate with some stops/slow downs for poor road conditions).

You're fine. The temperatures you report are very low, and I'll bet you had your heater on, as well. It's very difficult for any engine to retain its generated heat under those conditions unless it's driven for more than a half-hour at highway speeds.

Here's a test for you: At the end of your drive, feel the upper and lower rad hoses, and feel the top tank of the rad. If they are all stone-cold, then the thermostat is not opening at all, meaning not enough heat is being generated to open the thermostat. (The rad hoses will be warm right next to the engine, so feel them close to the rad.)

Remember that your heater core is a "radiator", and it bypasses the thermostat entirely. In extremely cold weather, the heater core often dumps sufficient heat to allow the thermostat to stay closed.

And don't "block" anything. Leave the rad unblocked. I've seen people block their rads for the winter and forget they've done so, run into a warm spell, then suffer overheating.

 

[SLCraig]

Normal on cars I've owned. The only cars I've owned that would warm up fairly easily and not cool back off during idle were my VQ35's.

My Saturns and my Civic all take forever to warm up in the bitter cold, and I've seen the gauge drop 2 to 3 "bars" on my Civic when stopped in the cold (before you're fully warmed up) The R18 also takes a while to warm up on the open road with all the cold air rushing through the engine bay.

 

[LeakySeals]

When was the coolant last changed? Did the PO put a lower temp tstat in?. If no PO history do both to rule them out.

 

[bigjl]

I remember when direct Injected diesels started to be more common. They took ages to warm up.

It was so bad on the VW Sharon/Ford Galaxy/Seat Alhambra shared platform mpv that they introduced a diesel heater for the rear seats that had its own little glow plug and everything!

Used to cause concern when they got older and were neglected as they had a little "exhaust" just on front of the rear wheel and it used to smoke like you were trying to smoke kippers!

 

[HerrStig]

Take a photo of your fine Honda with cardboard jammed into the grill and send it to Honda headquarters. Maybe they'll suggest something to avoid you riding around looking like a beater. Not good for the corporate image.
Up until the early 60's Volvo's came with a curtain in front of the rad which you could pull closed in cold weather. The "all season" thermostats ended that. I had a 66, with a winter and summer stat. It also had a temp gauge which actually reflected what went on.

 

[Vikas]

That is one of the reason why one should NOT buy ScanGauge/UltraGauge; you start worrying about unnecessary things

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
That is one of the reason why one should NOT buy ScanGauge/UltraGauge; you start worrying about unnecessary things
Toyota temp gauges don't seem to reflect any particular reality. I guess if the one in my ride ever moves at all I'll know there is big time trouble somewhere. I know since the ECY looks at temp, a real problem will trigger the dreaded CEL.