[VelaZ]

Hi, new to the whole forum and everything just wanted to come here and ask other tsx owners if they had any overheating problems like I do

I have a Acura TSX 05 with Navi and about 130k miles, I’d say like four months ago I’ve had a overheating issue, I’ve owned the car since this year February and in April while I was sitting in my car while it was on it started overheating, coolant was spilling from the coolant reservoir and onto the floor
Before April I’ve never experienced any problems or anything of the car overheating and I’ve had the car idling longer with no problem
Now if I’m driving slow or idling the car overheats but when I drive it cools down
My fans do work and turn on with the Ac and I’ve already gotten my thermostat replaced a month ago and my radiator cap as well!!!
took it to the mechanic several times and they so called “fixed it” but it would be temporary as it would be fine for like a day or two and go back to overheating like usual
I’m really looking into this as I’m trying to get an idea of what it is, whether it’s the temperature sensor or water pump or something else I’m not sure about
If anyone could help me out I’d appreciate it thanks!!!



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[Litespeed08]

When the car drives it will drop temps because you have ambient air moving through the radiator but when you stop there is almost no air moving through it so it overheats. You may have a bad temp sensor, bad radiator fan relay, or even a bad water pump.

What exactly was done by the mechanic when they "fixed it"? What parts were replaced?

Your fans work in 2 different ways.
1. Both fans (AC and radiator) turn ON when the AC is running.
2. When AC is OFF, only the radiator fan (driver's side) will operate when the temp sensor senses high coolant temps.

Is your radiator fan activating (no AC being used) when you start to overheat? If not it could be a a relay to that fan or you could just replace the temp sensor at the bottom of the radiator and see if that fixes it.

You can check your water pump for bearing noises with a mechanic's stethoscope (car running) or by removing the serpentine belt off it (car turned off) and turning it by hand. It should rotate freely and smoothly.

Edit: You may also have a clogged radiator but that is usually caught by a mechanic.

 

[merlinj79]

Need to find a better shop, or the dealer. This should be easy to diagnose and deal with unless somebody put stop leak in the system.

Doubt it's the water pump, radiator, or thermostat since it stays cool while moving. That suggests a fan or temp sensor issue. You can try driving it with the AC off to verify whether there's a fan running when it's hot and idling.

 

[VelaZ]

I’m not completely sure what the mechanic did besides change the radiator cap, but as of lately I have been hearing a bearing noise when the car is on so it could be the water pump noise as suggested
I’ll see if I can order the part and try to install it one of these days
But yea definitely a weird thing, especially since I’ve taken it to the mechanic multiple times and nothing they did solved it
should I try to change the temperature sensors first since their a slightly cheaper then the water pump or should I go straight to the water pump and change it??
Also wouldn’t I have gotten a check engine light for the coolant sensors??

 

[Litespeed08]

I never received a CEL (check engine light) when my temp sensor went bad. The car just kept overheating until I diagnosed that the sensor was bad and it was replaced.

You can check the water pump for a bad bearing by using a mechanic's stethoscope or a piece of lengthy hose to hear for noises. Just be careful not to get them caught in the belt when the car is running. I'd check this first before replacing the temp sensor since it's an easy check.

If you decide to replace the temp sensor be ready to catch all the radiator fluid otherwise you'll have a big mess to clean up. It's a lot of work to check it. It's just easier to replace it. I did check it because I wanted to have that experience but it was a bit of work and time to test.

 

[merlinj79]

Water pump failure mode on most cars involves leaking or seizing up.

If it seized,the belt would squeal, smoke, and break pretty quickly.

Bearing noise from the pump would indicate imminent failure or leaking, but it should still be pumping fine since it's still turning.

Remotely possible I guess that the pump might slip on it's drive shaft, but I don't think I've heard of that. That would be a very tight press fit. Maybe could happen if some object got into the coolant system and jammed the pump, but more likely that would just slip the belt.

 

[CalgaryTSX]

According to the OP, the car doesn't overheat when driving down the road.
This pretty much rules out the water pump, radiator, thermostat and any internal engine problems like a head gasket.

Several folks have asked if the radiator fans ever turn on with the A/C off and the car idling and hot.
If they don't, that's your issue and, as was mentioned, is likely the fan temp sensor.

The fan temp sensor is not so simple in these cars as Honda made a change to the fan temp sensor between the 2004-05 cars and the 2006-08 cars.
Many threads on this forum for details on the fan temp sensor.

 

[VelaZ]

Thanks guys for the suggestion, I will get the coolant temperature sensors replaced so I will keep you guys updated on when I do!!

 

[CalgaryTSX]

Thanks guys for the suggestion, I will get the coolant temperature sensors replaced so I will keep you guys updated on when I do!!

Why are you replacing the temperature sensors?

 

[VelaZ]

UPDATEEE!!!
Received Both sensor a couple days ago and had the time to install them both( engine temperature and coolant temperature sensor)
The engine temperature sensor looked pretty burnt up as it was darker from the tip
The other sensor looked kinda the same but I replaced both!!!
I topped off the coolant for the bit that spilled and even burped it since I had it jacked up
Left it on for a good 20 min where as before it would easily overheat and which I would have to turn off to cool
As for now it didn’t overheat and I took it for a drive and Temperature stayed the same
I was also monitoring the radiator cap and reservoir to see any coolant overflowing and spilling
I’m aware it’s the first day so I’ll keep you guys updated in a week or so if it was a temporary fix or hopefully a permanent one!!!

 

[VelaZ]

It’s been a week and I can say the sensors definitely did the job, probably my third day I noticed it my car temperature going up but I’m pretty sure it was due to the bit of coolant I was missing
So when the car was cold the next day I topped it off where it should be
Beside that I’m able to sit in my car with it being on and not overheating so easily like it did before
Definitely was a headache trying to figure it out and was definitely well worth changing those sensors
Even got my VSA light removed recently, so now I got a clean dash and a car that won’t overheat!!!