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guys,

winter is coming & got Qs about coolant, i do search but cant find the most basic

1. every when should i change my coolant?

2. what is flushing?

3. is there a difference (bad effect) if i go to pep boys & let them change my coolant instead of honda? im thinking because they will not use a honda OEM coolant

thanx

 
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You can change your coolant yourself, its really easy. I change mine every other year. Just go to honda, get a couple gallons of the all-season coolant, and head home. Jack the car up from the front, and place it on jack stands. Then remove the radiator cap, (make sure the car is cool), and then on the bottom of the radiator, there is a white valve that has a nozzle on it that you can open to drain the radiator of coolant. While its doing that, get a 19mm socket and wrench, you'll need a big one cause the plug is usually tight. Use the 19mm socket on the plug on the back of the block to drain the block. When that is done draining, just put the plug back in, and start adding coolant. After you can't add anymore, lower the car, and start it up and let it warm up. When the thermostat opens, you'll be able to fill it up the rest of the way. Don't forget to change/top off the coolant in the overflow bottle.

 
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4drcivic2k1,

thanx for that, but i read on some thread that they add some water to the solution? when i buy the coolant from honda ill just put it? no mixing? how about the crush washer their talking about?*

 
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The honda coolant is premixed. There is a crush washer on the plug on the back of the block. You can replace it if you want, I didn't and its fine, but if you feel better doing that then go ahead, they're cheap.

 
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Honda's coolant is good stuff, and premixed as mentioned above. It's about $15 per gallon I believe. Change it every few years and you'll thank yourself later-it has anti corrosive properties to save your water jackets and water pump. My manual calls for the first change at 5 years, then every other year or something like that. A flush basically means getting ALL the coolant out, as opposed to simply emptying the radiator and refilling. However, even doing that and getting some fresh additives in there would help tremendously. That method is so easy you should just DIY.

 
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If you drain the block you are getting all/most of the coolant out. One thing I forgot to mention is to make sure you have the heater all the way on before you start so you can drain the heater core as well.

 
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Hey 4dr
Can I get pictures of the valve and plug ???

 
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The above pic is from an oil change I did.
4drcivic2k1, is the draing plug the one found in the above picture to the right of the oil filter mount? It seems to have a crush washer on it. I tried lossing that bolt with about 75lbs/feet of torque using my torque wrench and was not succesful. If that is the bolt is the threading normal? Do I loosen it by turning counter-clockwise?

Thanks in advance,
Oren

 
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It is a normal bolt, however it is EXTREMELY tight. The drain valve is on the bottom of the radiator, towards the middle. The part you turn is white.

 
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Do you have to reach near the oil filter to get to the bolt? If so is the bolt the one pictured above in the photo to the right of the filter mount?

 
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the reason why that bolt is so tight is because they use a liguid gasket on the threads, and when you remove it, you need to add it again when reinstalling the bolt.

 
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An impact wrench works great for getting that plug out.

 
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im kinda GREEN FREAK, where is the proper disposal for USED OIL & RADIATOR COOLANT?

 
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You can take all your oil / coolant / and other stuff to your local landfill, and they should take it for free and properly dispose of it?

No one really acknowledge whether the bolt in the picture was the correct bolt or not??

Thank you for the picture by the way!

Also Street that liquid gasket, is that just some lock tight or is that something else?? Where do you get it a hardware store? How tight do you have to retighten that bolt?

Thanks guys

 
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The bolt is the one in the picture, next to the oil filter. You can use just a liquid gasket from any store that has some. The bolt just needs to be snugged down like the oil drain plug enough so it doesn't leak.

 
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no you dont just snug down that bolt, you need to torque it to 58 lbf-ft and use liquid gasket.

 
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Ok, you snug it down to 58 ft/lb.

 
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I hope you don't snug down your drain bolt to 58 ft/lb

 
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Not the oil pan. The coolant plug.

 
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Take your used oil and coolant to the auto parts store you bought it from. They will recycle it for free.

 
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I was just wonderin if anyone has used Royal Purple Liquid Ice?

 
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boilermaker has, talk to him.

 
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The bolt is huge.

 
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haha, well i tightened my bolt probably around 30-40 ft lbs. It was snug, than tightened a decent amount more. Not too tight, not too loose. It wont leak on me.

 
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What did you use to break loose that bolt? I tried for around 30 minutes with every tool I had and gave up. I figured I would have needed a impact ratchet, it was a pain getting any kind of tool up in there, the space was so small.

 
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man its hard to change coolant in our civics....my eclipse is just a twist **** on the bottom of the radiator to drain all coolant

coolant should be changed every 2 years or 35k miles which ever comes first....if u use the same coolant too long its bad for the engine because coolant holds an electrical charge and as it goes through the engine and system it gets charged to so many volts...so to test if its good u can use a voltmeter...forgot what but i know u can do that

 
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its not hard at all to change the coolant on our cars. It is the same as most other cars, remove the drain plug at the bottom of the radiator and drain the coolant. The civic just has a engine bolt for the coolant in the engine. But what I do is drain the coolant from the radiator and overflow tank, fill it up with water and prestone flush and run it for 10 minutes with the heater on high, drain it, fill it up with water, run it again for 10 minutes, drain it and refill. Doesnt take but 30 minutes to do. If you are lazy, just drain and refill with fresh coolant.

Now if I remember correctly, if your coolant produces more then .2 volts, it needs to be changed. Anything higher and your coolant starts to act like an acidic battery.

 
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I think you guys are mixing up some totally different concepts here. The coolant doesn't produce any voltage. The coolant does have corrosion inhibitors. These inhibitors deplete with age as they are a buffered solution with a finite capacity to buffer acids. A totally different issue which has nothing to do with the age of the coolant is electrolysis. This is caused by stray current passing through the coolant system. This can degrade your radiator in an exceptionally short amount of time. Regardless of the age of the coolant. This happens when there is a faulty ground somewhere and is detected by checking for the voltage between the coolant in your radiator and the frame ground. If it is greater than about 15mV, you have a problem with stray voltage.

 
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yes coolant can cause corrosion if there is too much water in the mix...if there is a good mix than it prevents corrosion...and about producing voltage you are right because coolant cant produce voltage but it can store voltage...and yes its when it hits .2 volts its time to change it....we never stated that it can produce voltage just that it can store it.....easiest way to check if you need new coolant is like i said get a volt meter, put it to you negative ground and the positive one needle stick in the coolant and if u get an voltage reading of around .2 than its time for changing cuz it can harm the engine and system and cause corrosion