prr

Thrown for a loop here. I'm going to flush and refill coolant in my 98 Civic, but was told by a very trusted and reliable mechanic only to use green coolant in my Civic, and not the blue. I know about Honda's type 2 blue (earlier I bought a gallon of it). Issue is, neither prestone nor Valvoline Asian car zerex is green, so I'm a bit skeptical of the idea that my car can only take green.

OK I'm just wondering what the experience of other civic owners has been. I started an earlier thread about mixing---ok I wont do that at all. Gonna give away my type 2 blue. But I just want to know if I can use the prestone or Zerex asian car coolant in my civic (after a flush and drain of the current stuff). If I have to use Green I can, but the only green stuff I can find is Oreilly's store brand (WM supertech is a yellowy green), so I'm rather surprised that green is the only color.

Have other civic owners used non-green coolant and lived to regret it? Or has it been ok?

ezone

If you bought the Honda blue, use it!


When trying to figure out differences between various non-factory brands, color doesn't actually indicate coolant type or content. The color is just dye.
Read labels for other info.

Hondas type2: Non-Silicate and Non-Borate, conventional Ethylene Glycol, premixed with deioninzed water

prr

Problem with using it is that I'd need to buy another 19 dollar jug (I don't have a full gallon of it, which the HOnda tech told me is what I'd need for a full refill of coolant in my civic). Instead of doing that, I'd rather buy a full gallon of cheaper coolant. Sounds bad, but I'd still be better off with buying another jug of third party coolant. I wont throw it away, its just that I won't use it myself.

ezone

That car has a tiny radiator.......If you just drain the radiator and refill it, it may not even take a whole gallon.

prr

I am planning to do a flush--gonna buy Prestone flush, and then also use water. I used a quart of blue to top off the green that was already in there, and I'd like to get rid of everything and start over. Besides, I don't know how long it has been in there, so I think an actual flush would be better.

Stock 99

I've owned a 99 Civic for almost 7 years now... bought it at 165k km and it has 240k km now. I've changed it twice with honda type II and it was blue when I bought the the car. I assume for most of the 17 years it's probably always had the Honda type II in it. Everything is still fine. The last time I bought it the head honda tech told me that you could put any old all purpose coolant in a Civic prior to 2000. Both times I've only drained the radiator and it doesn't take the full gallon... I'd say there has been about a quart left over both times. There's a bolt on the back of the engine close to where the oil filter is... if you can manage to get that out then all of the coolant will be drained out of the block and no need to flush the cooling system.

prr

I'm not trying to make extra work for myself. If I don't need to, I won't. But I have two reasons for thinking I need a flush.

(1) I'm not sure when the last time I had coolant replaced. I topped off once or twice in the last several months, but as far as replaced---I have no idea. It was probably 5 years ago if not longer. I have no receipt (I keep them), or mark on my spreadsheet. I'd say I've never had it replaced, except there was no crud under the radiator cap---not sure if that means anything.

(2) The stuff I topped off with was type 2 blue; the original stuff that was already there is green. So I'm thinking to avoid a negative interaction between the two types, just flush it out and start fresh.

Wankenstein

Pentofrost (Pentosin) A3 Blue Coolant: https://www.amazon.com/Pentosin-8115...ype=automotive

I'm pretty sure Pentosin is the manufacturer of Honda's coolant. Honda just relabels it and sells at a higher price. Pentofrost is available in most aouto part stores.

prr

OK--- I keep reading online about problems with folks who don't use GH coolant.

OK I give in. I'll use my $19 blue stuff.

My question is still, however---since the stuff in now is at least 75% green, do I still have to flush it, or could I just drain it out? I want to do what is best for my engine, and least likely to give me problems on down the road, but I'd rather avoid work if I can avoid it.

ezone

I'd just drain it and refill it, that's all we do in the shop for a basic service (95% of the time).
Repeat every 2/3/5 years or so.

One of the goals of the service is to replenish the additives and lubricants to the coolant. A half-capacity change is plenty to last another couple years, and every couple years thereafter. (or longer if using better coolants)

The back of the type 2 coolant bottle probably says to change every 5 years after the first 10 year/100k service?
(replenishing 50% of the additives means you need to replace it in half the time next service, hence first service at 10 years then subsequent services every 5 years)
Did that make sense?

The deionized water used in our premixed cuts down on lime and scale buildup in the cooling systems. It seriously works much better than our local tap water, in my town we have fairly hard water.

The original coolant was either green, or dark green long life. We've been dumping blue right in with it all these years.

Plus whatever someone has used since that time.

Most regular coolants from the parts store you have to mix yourself say to change every 2 years.

prr

Alright, I did some poking around online, all the posters in honda forums are saying that not only can you mix green and blue, but the blue is simply a longer lasting form of the green.

I also see that merely draining the radiator will give me only a 50% coolant change, so that was what you were talking about. The GH blue type 2 bottle says 5 years or 60K miles.

So if all I do is drain the radiator, I would refill in 3 years/30K miles?

Having never done a radiator flush (or drain, for that matter), I think I'll take your advice and just do a drain, then fill it with the type 2 blue that I already have. Three years from now, I can do a flush if I feel up to it.

OK thanks everyone for your advice.

ezone

Pretty much IMO. If it's already got average coolant in it now, do it every 2 years?

While the radiator is drained, look into the top and see if there is scale buildup in the thin little tubes inside the radiator.

prr

I'll probably take my new fill 3 years. It already has a quart of type 2 blue--topped it off with blue a few months ago.

Now if there is any buildup like you said--would that suggest that I do a flush instead of a drain?

ezone

Probably not. Most consumer grade parts store flushes can't touch that.

Not unless you can get something that will actually be able to remove it. (C.L.R.?)

If the buildup is bad enough to inhibit heat transfer or block flow, that's bad. Might be simpler to drop another radiator in it.




My truck has some buildup in the radiator....I haven't done anything about it yet.

prr

OK I'll check, and hope that there isn't what you just described.

Many thanks, ezone. You have always been a big help when i"ve posted here.

ezone

My truck suffers from years and years of tap water used in the cooling system. And quite a bit of neglect LOL

I haven't seen that buildup in radiators when using Hondas blue coolant, even on cars that have never had it changed in their life. Water pump leaks have reduced significantly since they switched to it too.

prr

You with a truck not in great operating condition---isn't that like a doctor who has kids who are sick all the time?

ezone

The cobblers' children have no shoes.


The truck is almost 30 years old.
I've had it since 1994.
Look in my profile there's a couple pics of it. Tell me if it looks like a pile of doodoo.
It probably hasn't gone 2000 miles in the last 10 years.

It needs a few things, but I can start it up and drive it when I need to, I hauled a couple loads of stuff just a couple weekends ago......

Except right now as of the first of the month, the tag is expired. Was actually planning on taking care of that this week if work slows down enough to take an hour break in the middle of the day to go hassle with the DMV.

Wankenstein

OP: if you were a full time mechanic that wrenched on cars 40 hours a week for several years (possibly decades) most likely the last thing on your mind is repairing your own vehicle... it's like bringing your work home with you.

prr

Actually it looked better than your description of it. Not bad for a second vehicle. Gotta say it didn't look as nice as your Civic, but then again you already knew that....

prr

Would the type 2 blue work well, even if the green stuff that is currently in my engine is not even Honda stuff at all, but just the generic green antifreeze?

I'm thinking of running a gallon of type 2 blue into my system after the old stuff drains out, then drain out the new stuff, and then insert a second gallon. That should keep the old green gunk in my system down to 25%. That is, if I can't get a large percentage of the coolant to come out on the first drain.

With a 25/75 generic green/type 2 blue coolant ratio---will this mix cause me any problems?

ezone

More like 50-60 hours a week sometimes, and 3 decades.
I hate working on my own stuff (it doesn't pay worth a damn) that's why I bought a brand new Honda.



BOY, your eyes must be broken (or the pics may be kinda crummy, they were taken behind a shop LOL)


That truck was my DD for several years, and it has a show quality paint job with a layer of clear a mile deep.
The paint job is kinda older now at this point though, but it's still great paint. Color is original.

Sides debadged, smoothed roll pan, lock holes filled, lowered, and more.
Plus some bass.

The Civic will never have paint that good.


You've already been running the generic for quite a while, go ahead and mix it.

TS2008

You can fill, run and drain with pure water several times ( let's say 3 times). The old antifreeze will be so diluted that the color of the liquid of your last drain would be clear like water.


Pure water is very cheap.

Wankenstein

I'm a father of two: daughter is 22 and son 20. Not a mechanic but, like (to an extent) learning, working on cars. I'm a debt adversed SOB and been going the route of purchasing and subsequently repairing high mileage vehicles to avoid payments. However, a recent cash purchase of a 2004 BMW 325i for my daughter has back fired on me and instead of decreasing my repair/maintenance workload it increased it and in the end it's now looking to be a cracked cylinder head, A/C leaking (complete loss in 10 days) and a P0171 CEL lean code that I don't intend to spend money on tracking down. After two months of ownership I'm so frustrated with it and high mileage cars I've decided to trade the BMW in and get my daughter a certified pre-owned Kia Soul (her choice, good reviews, acceptable price) and start a payment plan.

I wasn't actually looking for a BMW but, my son encouragesd me to try one and it seemed to drive and ride very well for a car with 150k miles. We ended up test driving four more before settling on one with 100k miles. I should have researched their issues before purchase and now regret it and realize that even if it was in good mechanical condition it just wasn't the right car for my daughter. Uses 93 octane premium fuel, gas mileage is not good, expensive to repair if out of my capabilities.

I see the upcoming low mileage purchase as good for my daughter: dependabilty, safety, better gas mileage as well as piece of mind for me and less time spent cussing at German engineers while slogging through a repair underneath that BMW..lol So, at this point my wife's car is a 2007 Toyota with 63k miles and runs fine. Son's car is 2007 Mazda 3 with a recent 45k mile swapped engine.. car in very good shape otherwise, daughter getting a low mileage vehicle. So, all that's left to take care of at this point is my bestest buddy: 1997 Civic EX , A/T, with 163k miles. I made a pact with her that I'll try my best to get her to the 200k mile mark if, she does her part.

prr

Yes, distilled water would be teh way to go IF I am going to do a water flush.

Problem with Honda is, that they don't sell a concentrated antifreeze, so I would have 50% water mixed in with 50% of their 50/50 mix. Not so great. No way around it, I'd have to make their $19/ga fluid as part of the flush, to avoid a 75% water 25% antifreeze formula.

I'd love to avoid that setup.

It seems like Ezone is saying I don't need to worry about mixing generic green with type 2 blue, so I might just drain and fill (making it 50% green old gunk, and 50% type 2 blue), then as he's saying, in 2-3 years, do the same thing again--another drain and use type 2 blue.

If I really want to do a flush, I'll probably use someone else's concentrate. At this point I'll think about how important a flush is to the system right now.

ezone

You've already had green in there for a while, Hondas blue isn't going to hurt anything that hasn't already been hurt.
Go for it.