Hey all --

For background, the car's a bone-stock 2004, with ~15k miles. It's never been modified in any way (besides the glovebox organizer ).

Within a few minutes of starting the car, the temp gauge climbs to eight bars. Yes, eight. And there it sits, and sits, and sits. I never figured it was a big deal, because the gauge still has miles to go, I've never gotten a warning light/beep, etc. I swear the thing used to sit a three bars and one day went to eight, but it could be my mind playing tricks on me.

Using a temp gun, the engine bay temps seem really low. I can still grab the radiator hose (it's about 145 degrees at its hottest point after idling for 8-10 minutes and being at eight bars), so I kind of doubt that the actual temp's really getting that high. The radiator's not blocked off, there's no front plate, the coolant level's fine, etc.

Any ideas other than a bum sensor? Anybody know where I should aim the temp gun to get a more useful reading to verify the actual water temp?

And being out of warranty, if it's a sensor is it a pretty straightforward install?

Thanks!

 

I've been having the same problem, my dealership said it's "normal."

 

Hmm. Thanks for the response. I wonder if they're just passing the buck, or if it is indeed normal.

So after a spirited drive, I stopped and checked the temps -- the radiator hose was a bit warmer, ~165. The valve cover was over 170.

Warmer, but still not terribly out of whack, at least from my perspective.

Anyone have any insights?

 

I believe 8 bars for the ap2 "water temp" gauge is normal operating temperature. Someone can correct me if I am mistaken.

 

I thought the same thing...

 

7 or 8 bars is normal for AP2s.

 

Really? Tragedy averted, I guess.

I've found the numbers on AP1 temp gauges and what each bar represents; anybody have the specs for the AP2?

 

Yea from what I understand "normal operating temperature" (8 bars) is anywhere between not warm enough and complete meltdown. 160-235 I believe?

 

That's hilarious. And you'd think Honda would require more than three bars for VTEC engagement, if eight's such a wide range. Plus, I get the feeling that bars three, four, five, six and seven all represent about three degree windows, as once it gets past two it climbs up to eight really quickly.

I really wish Honda had stuck a numeric reading inside of the arc of bars. Oh well.

Thanks for all the help!

 

This is not a precision guage, nor is it a precision sensor. You'll feel the overheating, its generally supposed to give just before vertical in the normal range.