90 accord overheating, coolant sensor?
 

hello
i recently bought a 90 accord with 194k miles on it
fortunately this is not my only car and i will not need to daily drive it until snow comes here in northern IN

so it is overheating and i believe it may be the coolant sensor cause the needle moves up very fast when i stop and down very fast when i start moving
it goes all the way up to the red line

i just noticed it today i dont know if this just started or if it has been going on for a while

now the reason why i am leaning towards the coolant sensor is the fans will not run while the engine is running. i hear there is also a fan timer in the dash? the strange thing about this is that when i shut the engine off the radiator fans (both of them) will come on right away, wethor or not the key is in the ignition position

what do you think? is there a specific sensor that is common to go out on these things when the car has high mileage?

thank you
jared

In the common DIY thread on top of the gen tech help forum, there is a link to a writeup about coolant temperature sensors.

I think that you temp sensor A is not working, because when you are driving, there is enough air moving through the radiator to cool things down. When you stop, the two fans on the radiator should turn on when the engine reaches a certain temperature to help push air through the radiator.

Also, when the engine is cold, remove the radiator cap, and check to see that you have coolant filled all the way to the top of the radiator. If not, fill it up with a 50:50 mix of coolant. If it is low, you can rent a radiator pressure tester at a parts store for nothing once you return the tester. The radiator should hold 15 psi for 30 minutes.