Honda Accord ’02 V6 strange overheating problem

[Markus Berndt]

Recently, my ’02 Honda Accord V6 is overheating when idling. I checked that the radiator fans turn on when they should, and there are no obvious coolant leaks. This morning I ‘burped’ the cooling system without any bubbles appearing, so air in the system does not seem to be the problem.

The temperature gauge surges up quickly (to 3/4 and sometimes all the way near red) when the car is idling and has been running for a while (is fully warmed up). It will go down to normal quickly by revving the engine or by driving. The problem never occurs when I am driving at > 30 Mph, for example on the interstate.

My guess is that the water pump is not doing its job adequately at low rpm. Dos anybody have other suggestions?

Topic

[Its me]

Hate to say it, but it could be a head gasket issue, a radiator cap issue, thermostat issue…etc…

Also I have seen overheating issues be the radiator itself. Recently I had a car that was continually overheating. It had a new Thermostat, no head gasket issue, fan was working fine, all air was bled in system, cap was fine…

The culprit was that about 20% of the cooling fins in the radiator were missing and would vaporize to the touch into rust….. The real problem was that it was almost impossible to see. I only noticed it when I removed the radiator.

Karl!

[college man]

see if this helps.

[Markus Berndt]

I’m not sure what you mean? Did you forget to include an image?

[college man]

[quote=”monemmer” post=63363]I’m not sure what you mean? Did you forget to include an image?[/quote]

I posted two videos.You may need to check your browser or
update plugins.

[Markus Berndt]

Thanks, the videos show up in firefox, but not in chrome.

[exceptionalchris]

[quote=”ToyotaKarl” post=63343]Hate to say it, but it could be a head gasket issue, a radiator cap issue, thermostat issue…etc…

Also I have seen overheating issues be the radiator itself. Recently I had a car that was continually overheating. It had a new Thermostat, no head gasket issue, fan was working fine, all air was bled in system, cap was fine…

The culprit was that about 20% of the cooling fins in the radiator were missing and would vaporize to the touch into rust….. The real problem was that it was almost impossible to see. I only noticed it when I removed the radiator.

Karl![/quote]

+ 1 vote. And yes to your question about it being a water pump.

[david macias]

I would start with some testing to prove that there is no head gasket problem. First rent a coolant pressure tester and test your cooling system for leaks. Assuming this checks good then go to Napa and by a combustion leak tester. The combustion leak tester is basically a fancy turkey bastier with some special color changing Chemical. If your car passes both of these tests then I would rule out head gasket. From your description it sure does sound like the water pump is not doing its job at low rpm’s. It may be time to replace the water pump but I would try cheap and easy fixes first just in case you might get lucky. So replace the radiator cap and the thermostat. If you are replacing the watter pump you will want to replace these anyway. Maybe you’ll get lucky. Good luck!

[Author]

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