Hi all. 1st post here, so please be understanding. So, here we go....
Just got a '99 Accord EX 2.2L for cheap, and I've got some issues I can't quite figure out.

1) From a cold start, within 10-20 seconds (I hear what sounds like the Tstat clicking) the temp gauge jumps straight to the top, ie VERY HOT, but the engine is definetly NOT hot.

2) The heat isn't very warm.

3) The car acts very "sluggish" from a stop, going up hill, or when passing. In other words, it's very slow to get up to speed.

4) There seems to be a good deal of pressure on the top hose coming off the radiator. I know there should be some, but this thing is crazy tight.

So, here is what I know. The Tstat, waterpump, and radiator hoses have been replaced. I have "burpped" the coolant system, by running the car with the radiator cap off and the front of the car jacked up, but there was very little air coming out. The radiator is full of "regular green" coolant, and shows no sign of oil mixing in it. The oil also, shows no sign of mixing with the coolant(checked via dipstick test (ie held dipstick near/at flame to see/hear if there was any water/coolant), removed fill cap and see no sign of water). The car does not smoke. There is no water coming from the tail pipe. Not at any point do I smell coolant anywhere.
Any ideas???? Temp sending unit? Engine coolant sensor? Head gasket?
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

 

I forgot to mention that the car is absolutely terrible on gas....maybe 200 miles from a full tank..

 

Your post seems to describe what steam acts like in engine. I would try bleeding the cooling system and doing a compression test. If you can't get rid of the air you may have a blown head gasket. I do stress may. When the head gasket blew on my 1995 Accord it had no symptoms other than it quickly overheated and I couldn't get the air out of the system. With air in the system the fan sensor never would power the fan. When cold with the radiator cap off and when I cranked it coolant would spray out like being pumped out. It had no mixture of oil and coolant or smoked. If it turns out to need a head gasket I would suggested getting the head milled also.

 

You may want to watch this video that shows how to bleed the accord system. It shows this in the first 5 minutes of the video

 

with you saying the upper hose being highly pressurized I would say head gasket at least because thats what mine was doing...

does it struggle to start or miss right at start up?

I had to go thru my whole cooling system to land on a bad headgasket. they seem to be somewhat inconsistent with symptoms. after I got the cooling system sealed up (new rad, cap and fans) I found that my upper hose looked like it was gonna burst. it was from the combustion gasses getting forced into the cooling system thru the bad spot. replaced headgasket and the upper hose failed 2-3 months later (was it's time anyhow) but yeah I would guess your looking at a headgasket or cracked head or a blockage.

temp guage I have to wonder if you might have a bad connection... you might also try bleeding the air thru the bleeder valve if you have one on that one, I think they do but can't remember for sure, but that should rule out a airpocket.
Edit: while I was typing this up someone linked a vid to the bleeder... I would start there, if symptoms persist, again, your looking at a HG or cracked head.

 

Thanks for the advice!

(does it struggle to start or miss right at start up?) No. It starts fine, and it doesn't sound like its missing at all.

The hose Isn't so tight I can notice by eye, but if I try to squeeze it I can barely make a dent in it. I will try bleeding the system through the valve in the morning. I hope that helps....I'm pretty mechanically inclined but I've never done a HG before, and when talking to shops around town they want $600 to $1100 to replace it. Again, thanks for all the replies. Ill update you tomorrow after I bleed it.

 

I did my head gasket and timing belt service myself and with getting the head rebuilt and milled at a cost of a $1000 in parts and machine shop work. I had the addition cost of waterpump and upper and lower timing belt covers and belts. The engine had gotten hot enough to melt them. What your garages want to do the service seems reasonable.

 

Thanks for sharing. I live in a back woods small town...an hour plus from what you can call a real city, and I didn't know if these guys were for real or not. Now, I did take them the car, just asked whar they'd charge to do a HG. I hope its not that, cause I cant afford that right now.

 

Doing my HG myself didn't break me, it was the replacing the whole cooling system to diagnose the HG. lol Those blue liquid bs testers are worthless...

I think iirc, the gasket set is less than 200 for the job, that includes all the little gaskets that are in the valve cover and whatnot.

the timing belt is a pita to deal with, but doable. We ended up just sliding it off the gear and back on... Prolly replace it this summer tho...

 

been really busy and havent been able to do much with the car lately. However; about a week ago I went ahead and replaced my temp sending unit, and bleed the air out of the system via the video posted above. No change....gauge goes straight to the H, still crappy heat, terrible gas milage, etc, etc(all the same stuff from the OP).
Now...the other morning in about 8" of snow I go out to move the car off the street for them to scrap it and it would not start. one tow truck ride, and $715 later at a mech I got a new distributor, fps....car starts now, but with a really REALLY bad miss almost like its gonna die on me, but after about 20-30 seconds it settles itself out fine. I've learned/noticed a few new things too. Looks like the previous owner has wired the fan up to run constantly to on of the fuses in the cabin (dunno if that matters). but what I've noticed mostly is that the car has began to shift a little hard from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 1st (like when coming to a stop, or taking off from a stop), also when up to speed I can feel and even see a very slight drop/bounce in the tach/rpm for example im riding along tach is at say 2500, and I can feel like a "bounce" in power and even see it in the gauge (the rpm needle bounces maybe no more than 100-200 rpm or so, not anymore than the width of the needle itself). The mech told me the temp gauge is busted and the car isnt overheating, but to get them to look it over any further and diag they want me to pay them a min of 6hr @ $110 each. thanks for all the advice so far, but anythning else you guys could add would be awesome.