danwat12345

Hey guys,
Engine coolant question
OK. So Silicates are bad.
But Japanese cars require Phosphates?
Peak GLOBAL is non e-2ha or whatever and no Silicates and no phosphates.

Phosphates I believe are used for fast-acting aluminum protection, for instance to help protect the water pump after cavitation.

Silicates do the same thing but can be dangerous.

It is either Phosphates or Silicates that can be harmful if interacting with hard water (can't remember which). But I will be flushing my system with
distilled water so no issue there.

According to the attached .pdf, "Japanese conventional coolants contain no silicates, but they do contain phosphates for fast-acting protection,
plus other inhibitors. Extensive Japanese tests have shown phosphates to be a good corrosion inhibitor for aluminum, and particularly effective in
protecting water pumps from corrosion after cavitation erosion/corrosion"

So would Peak GLOBAL work well, or should i go with Nissan long life or something else?
-It has to have NO silicates
-has Phosphates (if I need it?)
-NO 2-eha or whatever the heck that molecule is
-Has to be a OAT (organic bla bla) or whatever the Acronym is because that is 1337.
-Nitrates? I don't know about the effect of this.

Or do you guys fill up the coolant with "whatever" and no issues so far?
Thanks

You can imagine that I have done way too much forum surfing on bitog and other forums related to coolant!

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

stick with honda, it works best. any other coolant you find that might be the same also costs alot more.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

if u live in a place that has no snow or does freeze up, use distilled water + water wetter. works much better than any oem coolant.

plus its much cheaper. like half the cost of honda's

instalher

new prestone every 3 yrs...

danwat12345

Ok, so there is Prestone Prime, Prestone Low Tox, and Prestone extended life.

Extended life is Phosphate, Silicate and Borate free according to http://www.gl1800riders.com/forums/s...=199647@post#4

But Japanese cars like Phosphates I've heard.. so I'm looking for a coolant that has no silicates, 2-eha but has phosphates.

Thanks

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

look at xerex, some of their higher end stuff matches the honda fluid

danwat12345

W00t!
Zerex Asian Vehicle!!!

From attacehd pdf:
"Zerex Asian Vehicle contains no silicates, borates, 2-
ethylhexanoic acid (2-EHA), amines or nitrites."

But it does has Phosphates!!

Woohoo! Now I'll see what people at Bitog think of it.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i heard about it on bitog actually, it just costs alot more than oem but its a perfectly fine substitute. should be lots of info there. thanks for the spelling fix lol

danwat12345

Asian Vehicle doesn't come in 100% mix just 50/50. A lot of wasted fluid since I will be doing a flush so I would flush my system with distilled water a few times, then I'd have to cycle 50/50 maybe 3 times to be reasonably certain that the correct ratio is in.

Hmm. Genuine Honda "type 2" coolant is also only 50/50 not 100% concentrate.

Both seem to be rather pricey and Asian Vehicle isn't really in stores(I don't think) so I'd have to pay for shipping

To heck with it. I'll just Peak Global Lifetime because it is available in full concentrate! If my radiator busts in 300,000 miles from now or my head gaskets go or something, oh-well.. (</sarcasm>)

I'm under the assumption that Peak developed Global Lifetime to work effectively at protecting the engine and cooling system without needing Phosphates.

Thanks for the help Gearbox and others.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

well there is more than what you assume. hondas are very picky about coolant due to extremely small cooling passages that can clog with the tiniest chunk of metal buildup, and the waterpump can fail if its not lubricated properly. using the wrong coolant can do alot of damage and not all of it is long term. for something you only do once every 3-5 yrs, it shouldnt be worth saving $5 for.

danwat12345

I was able to buy Zerex Asian Vehicle @ Baxter's and I also bought 3gallons of distilled water for flushing. They didn't have 100% just the 50/50 Asian Vehicle but i the guy told me that Zerex does make the 100% stuff but he doesn't stock it anymore. I don't believe him.

So, I need to buy a washer and liquid gasket for the coolant drain bolt in my engine.
See attached pic for the liquid gasket I bought. Is it the right stuff?
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/100_2708.jpg
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/100_2653.jpg
What size washer does it take? Perhaps same size as oil pan bolt washer? (9/16"/M14)
Is it a 17mm wrench? I will be going under my car tomorrow to check it out.

i've also attached 2 pages from my Civic manual.
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/a...nwat1234/1.jpg
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/a...nwat1234/2.jpg
It didn't mention anything about washers or liquid gasket for the radiator plug (not a bolt). It just says to loosen it to drain the rad and tighten again afterwards.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the drain plug is plastic and has a rubber o-ring to seal it. engine bolt needs that silicone on it otherwise it will leak. not sure on washer size for your engine.

instalher

why drain from the engine? is there residual antifreeze in there that wont come out of the radiator?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah, but usually not really needed if you do a drain and fill. he mentioned flush thats why. you get most of the coolant out thru the bottom radiator drain.

danwat12345

Yeah about 2.75 quarts to 3 quarts ends up coming out of the radiator plug. So I haven't messed with the engine bolt. Too much hassle and mess and potential bloody knuckles & anti-freeze on face!
Draining the radiator is a snap!
Yeah I'm not really flushing (no pump or garden hose connected), just drain and filling many many many times. I needed 6 gallons of distilled water to get clear water out of the system.

Hey would it be a good idea to fill the cooling system with vinegar?
I want to remove whatever deposits may be in the system because I might as well do a complete job.
I just want to make sure that the vinegar won't damage anything!
I'd be sure to rinse it out completely before adding my Asian Vehicle anti-freeze.
EDIT: Seems as though some people think it attacks aluminum!

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

well vineger is acidic...i wouldnt do it.

instalher

i would tho put that vinegar on my french fries... ummmmm fries....

MelJ

Sliced open my elbow trying to pop the bolt out of the engine block.

danwat12345

OK, so I have the 50/50 Asian Vehicle coolant. I'm going to have to use maybe 3-5 gallons to be sure that the water to coolant ratio is close to one.

I don't think I'm going to run any flushing fluid (Gunk Super Radiator flush or similar) through it. System seems to run fine as it is.

EDIT: I ended up using about 7 gallons to really make sure all old coolant was out of the system

danwat12345

I'm going to go with the Peak Global Lifetime (PGL) because it comes in 100% form not just 50/50. That way I just need to buy 1 jug.

That way I can save about $30+ in coolant!

I trust that it is good stuff. It is supposed to last longer than 5years/150K. From my research, the main thing to make sure of with Japanese vehicles is to make sure that the coolant is silicate free and 2-eha free. Phosphates optional.

Replacing the coolant every 30K is good maintenance. Before replacing, measure with a volt-meter, the voltage in the coolant of your radiator (don't touch metal) versus the negative of the car's battery. Anything higher than ~0.3volts is bad and may indicate that you need to replace the coolant more often or switch.

green01civic

Good choice on the Peak Global Lifetime, you just need to make sure it's the stuff that is in the gold jug and says "GLOBAL" on the front label. I went with the official Honda stuff, but almost went with PGL.

Below is what I did when I flushed my cooling system. It was previously using god knows what, cause the color was like a mix of blueish green when I drained the old stuff. It took me a good 2-3 hours from start to finish.
NOTE: After every drain and fill, I let the engine run for about 5 just to get things moving around and mixing, and the heater was on hot and blowing whenever the car was running to allow circulation through the heater core, with the exception when I let the car get a little hot when using the coolant flush chemical. As a bonus, since the car never got really hot, I never worried about burning myself when draining the fluid.. at most it got hot-tub warm.

• Removed battery in order to Remove and empty the coolant overflow container.
• Removed thermostat (so was running open and I didn't have to wait for engine to get hot to circulate coolant), and bolted the tstat housing back with the old gasket temporarily.
• Drain & Refill Radiator, 2 times with Distilled Water. (Ran car 5 min after each).
• Drained radiator a little bit, enough to add a little jug of Prestone Super Flush (concentrated sodium citrate based flush). Let car warm up somewhat (took a bit longer with tstat not on), then let heater run full blast, and let it go for about 15 mins.
• Drain & Refill Radiator, 6+ times with Distilled Water (Ran car 5 min after each). I kept going until the water coming out was clear water, I lost count but it was at least 6.
• Drain & Fill Radiator, 2 times with the Honda Type 2 Premix.
• Reinstalled the overflow and filled it to the min line with the Type 2 Premix.
• Checked with a hydrometer, it was not quite 50/50 in the radiator (of course), but it was very blue looking.
• Drained and filled with Honda Type 2 Concentrate to correct the ratio (had to special order this, no dealers around me had it). Looked to be a 50/50 mix after doing so.
• Installed the new Thermostat with new Gasket.
• Bled the system, then closed it up by putting on a brand new Radiator Cap.
• Checked coolant level in overflow and topped it up as needed.

I captured and disposed of any drained coolant at my local hazardous waste facility (free), but anything that came out of the radiator looking relatively clear (the last few drain and fills before the Honda fluid got added) got dumped outside.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

you can flush coolant down the toilet fyi, per epa regulation. ive also taken it back to honda dealer.