oceanbreeze

96 EX, D16Y8 engine, auto.

I removed the intake manifold and in the process lost a bit of coolant so I need to top it up. The coolant that dripped out was bright green with a very slight yellow tinge. Does the color tell me it is prestone? Could it still be Honda coolant?

I don't like to mix coolant types if I can help it.

The car had no temp issues with this coolant. Heat has been great. The temp gauge always shows just below midpoint when at operating temp, and the coolant that dripped out was remarkably clear so no scale or rust. The radiator looks very clean inside.

Thank you for any help.

ezone

Can't tell you what you have, but Prestone usually has a yellowish tint to it. Other types can be yellow also....Really, color is no longer any sort of good indicator of the TYPE of coolant in any car.

Hondas current pre-mixed (called Type 2) coolant is blue. The previous long life coolant was very dark green.

Honda specifies: Conventional Ethylene Glycol, non-Silicate and non-Borate.

HTH

oceanbreeze

Thanks ezone.

So, would it really matter if I top it up with any coolant that satisfies the above spec?

The auto parts stores say that any universal coolant should work, whatever universal means.

Maybe I need to bite the bullet and flush the whole system and then top it up with honda type 2?

thank you again for your help.

ezone

Meh......It's a 96....... You've had Prestone(?) in it for how long already? I'd probably just say to get more Prestone and drive it.

Check what the bottle says the service interval should be....may be every 2 or 3 years. Change it if it is time.

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Any coolant is better than no coolant.

There is no such thing as universal coolant, no matter how large they print the word on the bottles.