93 CB7 overheating when its -10 outside

[DPow]

I had a long drive down to my familys house. about 2 hours then i had the drive back up witch was about the same time. i got about 10 minutes from my house and my engine light came on so i paused my ipod and shut my heat off to hear anything with the engine. looked at the heat for the engine and it was fine. 1 more min of looking and being kinda scared about it and my heat rose to about 3/4's to the red i was going about 45 because of the road conditions. wasnt snowing but it was -10 out. i was driving on the highway before for around an hour going 70 btw. So after it got high i slowed down and was thinking of shutting it off but then the heat would go back down. so i kept going home. i turned the heat on to see if i could smell anything. i did smell something but no idea what it was. and it was dark in my car (10:00 at night) but im sure some smoke or something came through the vents. so i turned off the heater and rolled my window down. got home paked it poped the hood. checked radiator and under for leakes checked radiator res and was full, looked in side radiator and it was a perfect green i had thermastat changed about 4 - 6 months ago and checked oil and it was fine. Belts are all perfect. I have no idea what is wrong other then pump?

tl;dr car overheated in -10F weather. Coolents fine collent in res was full. what could be the problem?

[VTS]

Hi, Merry Christmas Everybody!!!


I hope your coolant are ready for very low negative outside temp – if not –
It will freeze in the pipe and stopping circulation what will
Make temp go HI in the block/engine…

Else – water pump…

[8ball]

check your rad cap also you may want to take it to the rad shop for a test

[DPow]

Yeah, this is odd. i talked to my step dad today who has a pretty good knowledge about cars. he said since its old and it was cold it could have just been some fluke. but that doesnt explain the smell that came through my heater. Ill take it for a drive in a bit and get back to you, obviously im not gonna go that far. Ill make a list here of What i have checked.

Coolent / Coolent res - Green and at the tip of max in res.

Oil - Perfect level / Color

Radiator - No holes or anything wet on or under.

Under car - Nothing dripping Ill check today and see if there's any puddles.

**Turned car back on an hour after i got home last night and engine light was off**

Thanks for the ideas so far.

[anythingfast]

Like poster said, if your coolant is worn then the value won't be good for certain temperature ranges. When you replaced your thermo did you replace with fail safe? If any doubt I would remove the thermo and boil it in a pot and once it starts reaching boiling point make sure the thermo pops open. If you get desperate you could always pull the thermo out and run without one. You won't get as good of effeciency but if you're in a bind. . . . . . . . . If you determine that the thermo is fine, when's the last time you had a coolant flush? If never, I would flush the coolant. Has your coolant been low at anytime lately? If so it could have gotten an air pocket in it. If you haven't had any problem lately with the coolant level, and you have isolated all of the above problems, it would most likely be safe to say your water pump is getting weak.

[DPow]

FLushed the radiator same time i changed thermostat 50/50. My coolent hasnt been low ever. like i said i checked it yesterday and today and its a perfect green and res is at full mark. i started it pulled it from garage and let it idle double/triple checked everything that i would see that qould cause that then sat in the car until it got to normal op temp. went and looked at the engine and made sure i didnt hear any out of ordinary sounds for my car. everything checked good. turned heater on and smelled the air coming out it had no smell like i smelled last night. i cant remember what it smalled like exzactly. drove it around my block (which is a few miles, i live in the country) drove it in my drove way let it sit where there was some white snow. then backed it up to see if there was anything leaking and not a single drop. looked at the tailpipe and there was some moisture coming out whitch seems regular to me. today when i tested this it was 12 to 13 degrees.

[anythingfast]

If it's an intermittent problem, boiling the thermo isn't gonna tell you anything. Chances are it won't fail when you WANT it to. Just keep a close eye on it and shut it off before it gets past 3/4 on the temp guage. Let us know if it happens again and hopefully someone can help.

[J3wman]

Id replace it if that doesnt work idk then

[GangstaCB7]

Cooling fan? My fan don't work and if I go slow even if its cold outside it overheats, check to see if the fan turns on. If somebody said this already, sorry.

[C91BLX7]

Thermo may be getting stuck shut.

[DPow]

Oh yes the fan works. So ive been slowely driving it. And its been working perfectly. Im going to take it in and some a pro look it over.

[turbo90accord]

overheating in cold weather is usually a bad water pump or blocked radiator.

[d112crzy]

Check your check engine light. I'm thinking it was your engine coolant temperature sensor. It might have been disconnected or it's going bad. They control when your fans turn on. If the switch or plug is bad, it throws a check engine light and your fans won't turn on at the correct temperature.

[project93]

maybe your heater core blocked.

[bigbadtoph]

Check your check engine light. I'm thinking it was your engine coolant temperature sensor. It might have been disconnected or it's going bad. They control when your fans turn on. If the switch or plug is bad, it throws a check engine light and your fans won't turn on at the correct temperature.

I agree. The CEL light makes me think a sensor too.