97 Civic Temp Guage?

[Palut]

What is the normal warmed up coolant temperature gauge reading on a '97 Civic DX?

My fiancee has one with 142,000 miles. I notice that the needle on the coolant temperature gauge comes about 1/3 of the way up the gauge and then stays there. Is this normal?

 

[Dave Hess]

Yeah its normal. Wife had a 98 Civic and it did the same thing.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Should be on 1/3 or a tad over.

 

[jnyost]

Yeah my accords never registered much more than that. If you notice that you cannot generate heat in the winter I would suggest a thermostat change.

Jared

 

[Quest]

If it's the original thermostat in your fiancee's car and it's already registered over 142,000miles on it, might as well replace with a new OE one (don't waste your precious time on aftermarket ones just to save a couple of bucks).

Thermostats are wear-n-tear items so don't be surprised if it fails on you.

Q.

 

[Palut]

Thanks everyone. I used to have an '85 Accord and its temp. gauge acted the same way. My '95 Accord, on the other hand, goes to just a hair below the halfway mark and stays there. Since my '95 and her '97 are very, very similar I was a little concerned.

Maybe I'll change the thermostat soon, you know, introduce myself to the car. : )