Out of curiosity will a sticking or failed Thermostat cause a car to accelerate poorly or run a little bit rough or get bad gas mileage or all of the above? I suspect mine needs to be replaced because it seems like the car isn’t “warming up” even after a nice long drive across town, just based on my temp gauge. Oh yeah 87 Accord. This seems to be a problem month for me and my vehicle.
Yes, especially if you have a carburetted Accord.
Yes, cars are like people; they function best when warmed up properly!
Hi Jeff! Easy enough to find out . . . it’s on the top of the engine on the end of the radiator hose directly back from the radiator. Careful with those bolts when you tighten them up, they can break pretty easy. A bad thremostat can affect MPG because the car is always warming up and the choke is sending more gas into the engine. The stumbling/poor running I don’t see, but maybe. Your Accord should warm up, even in the Winter, in 10 minutes or so . . . the temp guage at full warm-up is about 8 o’clock. Rocketman
If it’s a water-controlled choke, if the thermostat is stuck open, the choke stays closed even though the engine itself is warm enough not to need it. As a result, it runs too rich and you get stumbling/poor running.
If it’s a fuel-injected Accord, it’ll run okay, though you’ll get poor mileage and the idle will never kick down.
thanks all! Yes, the car is drinking fuel and “loading up” really bad when trying to accelerate through 2nd gear. Carb is probably out of adjustment anyway but hopefully this will be an easy fix to start out with.
Oh hey Rocketman do you have an email address I can contact you at in case I ever have an antique-accord specific question and don’t feel like getting 2958098 opinions on here? You seem to know these cars well. Would appreciate it. And don’t worry, no spam/junk mail.
A stuck open thermostat is not going to affect the fuel mileage that much on a carbureted Accord. As to running rough and loading up, etc., my answer is the same as before; choke flap, choke pull-off diaphragm, etc.