I think I'm going nuts 🙂 About a month ago when we had a cold spell I noticed that bottom radiator hose doesn't get warm after driving for 15-20 minutes. Top radiator hose gets warm / hot and the gage shows engine normal operating temperature after 10 min of driving, however, bottom hose stays stubbornly cold. I know it's winter and it takes time for engine to get hot but still.... Just today I drove 15 mins to dentist, spent 40 min there and drove back home 15 mins. Checked the bottom hose, it's cold (not even warm). Today's temp was 43 degrees. Is this normal in winter or is my thermostat got stuck in open position? Can't seem to figure it out. My car is 2012 Accord with 54,000 miles on it. I just replaced coolant few months ago and let fan comes on twice to bleed the air. Don't want to replace thermostat if not needed. Any advice?
Letting the fans come on does not bleed air from the system. See FAQ to get info on properly bleeding the cooling system.
Which FAQ you are referring to?
The site FAQ here, which is hidden away in an obscure corner barely visible near the top of the topic list.
Did you have your heater setting on high when you did the bleed? If not, a large amount of air can get trapped in the heater core. I don't know about the fan thing, but I let the engine run until no more air bubbles come out and the coolant level starts to rise in the burp funnel.
Does the heat work? If yes then the engine is warming up fine.
If it's really cold out, and you've got the heat turned on, then then your car doesn't even need the radiator. The heater core alone might be enough to keep a small Honda engine at operating temperature. Especially after only a short 15min drive.
Obviously I had my radiator cap off and car running until fan came on twice. Which FAQ you are referring to?
How to bleed the air out of a cooling system.
Thanks! I used exact same funnel. 2012 accord doesn't have bleeder screw and instead you run the engine until fan comes on twice from what I have read.