Radiator boiling over

My daugters 97 Accord over heated. after some checking it seems that the radiator is boiling out into the resivior tank and the tank over flows. untill the water gets low. I havent seen the fans kick on but checked them with a wire from the battery. I swapped the relays with the power window and seem to be working. fuse looks ok. I am not sure how to check the temp senser but the gauge seems to read ok untill the water runs out and it goes hot. The themostat seems to be working but will be checking it.

My daugters 97 Accord over heated. after some checking it seems that the radiator is boiling out into the resivior tank and the tank over flows. untill the water gets low. I havent seen the fans kick on but checked them with a wire from the battery. I swapped the relays with the power window and seem to be working. fuse looks ok. I am not sure how to check the temp senser but the gauge seems to read ok untill the water runs out and it goes hot. The themostat seems to be working but will be checking it.



After more investigation it seems I have no power to the fans. Fuse is ok and relay works. But I can't read any voltage under the cooling fan relay like I can under the power window relay.???? Anyone have any ideas/

why cant you? you should be able to... check and make sure its getting power otherwise make new wires and run them to a switch

I have yet to see my cooling fans kick on (ever) and I own a 94 Accord. My dad's 95 Accord will turn them on once he shuts the car off and keep them on for a few minutes, but I've never observed this on mine.

I believe one is initialized when the AC is turned on but I don't believe the other comes on unless the car overheats (which hasn't happened to me yet). Have you figured out why the car is overheating first? If you can prevent that from happening then the radiator should't boil over. Wish I could offer some advice, but the only thing that comes to mind is oil level. Sorry!

why cant you? you should be able to... check and make sure its getting power otherwise make new wires and run them to a switch


I am not sure what turns on the relay. I guess it would be the temp senser but i am not sure how to check that.

jajimo :

I am not sure on the overheating. I assume the fans never turned on and the radiator got low from the water boiling out. I havent found any damage from the overheating but I think the daughter drove it untill it died on her. She says she didnt knowtice any thing wrong :nono: :rolleyes:

FYI, BOTH fans should come on when the A/C is turned on. With the A/C off, the condenser fan (left) doesn't (ever) run, but the colling fan (right) comes on when "needed."

One question - you said you swapped the relay for another (I forget which), but the fan relays aren't like the others -- they are cylindrical and sit in clips against the inside of the left fender (next to the Cruise Control vacuum unit). Are you sure it isn't a problem with the relay(s)? I had one of mine go bad recently.

Oh - maybe I lied about the relays. On a '97 they might not be as I described - sorry.

FYI, BOTH fans should come on when the A/C is turned on. With the A/C off, the condenser fan (left) doesn't (ever) run, but the colling fan (right) comes on when "needed."

One question - you said you swapped the relay for another (I forget which), but the fan relays aren't like the others -- they are cylindrical and sit in clips against the inside of the left fender (next to the Cruise Control vacuum unit). Are you sure it isn't a problem with the relay(s)? I had one of mine go bad recently.


On the 97 the relay is in the fuse panel in the engine compartment. The power window has the same relay so thats what I swapped it with.

I think I found the problem. I ended up changing the cooling fan motor and the temp sensor ?switch? on the back left side of the motor. Now both of the fans come on with the A/C and with high temp. I keep hearing that the condenser fan shouln't be coming on but I don't know. Why it is coming on?? When is it supposed to come on? As long as its not boiling over.

he condender fan should be on all the time the A/C is on. Whether it turns on with the A/C OFF (and when it's hot enough, of course), I'm not sure. With the car parked, my cooling fan (only) runs, on and off, for a while until it decides the temp is low enough.