Adding Anti-Freeze Into What ?

Hello,

Have a 2005 Accord; 6 cyl. version.

Over the years, I have added water and or anti-freeze to the white
plastic jug whenever it has gone down a bit without ever really thinking
about it. Have never, ever, cracked the metal cap on the radiator
itself to do so.

Today, I picked up a jug of Prestone 50-50 pre-diluted anti freeze.

Looked at the rear instructions on the jug and was surprised to see that
they say:

If you have an "Expansion Tank", add the mix into sit.

If you have a "Recovery Bottle," add the mix into the radiator
pix shows via its metal cap).

The plastic jugs in their instruction-pix both looked pretty much the same.

Which do I have ? An expansion tank or a recovery bottle ?

I always thought that you should ALWAYS add ONLY into the plastic jug.
Have I been doing sit wrong all these years ?

It's a bit confusing.
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

 

I think the instructions are trying to differentiate between a plastic
bottle that holds pressure (has a rad cap), and a bottle that does not hold
pressure (does not have a rad cap). According to their descriptions, you
have a Recovery Bottle.

Have you ever /changed/ the coolant? If not, you're severely overdue. Plus
you're overdue for a new rad cap. Leaving that old coolant in there means
early death for your hoses, and all sorts of other problems.

If that's the original coolant in there, do NOT put Prestone in. I strongly
advise you return that jug and get a full-change of the correct Honda
coolant.

Does your tank level RISE about an inch when hot, and go BACK DOWN when
cold? Or is the level always the same when hot or cold?

 

How could that be? The first change is not due until 120k miles or 10 years.

 

if you re-read the owners manual and get yourself past "120,000 miles
(192,000 km) or 10 years", you'll see it also says "then every 60,000
miles (96,000 km) or 5 years". given that honda use the same coolant
formulation on original fill as they sell you in jug at the dealer, why
would you not want to be careful about this stuff and stick to a 5-year
schedule? it's not like a failed hose, coolant pump or even head gasket
won't cost you just a teensy weensy little bit more than the cost of the
coolant you're begrudging. especially if you're in the habit of topping
up with non-honda coolant. [note: prestone standard is fit for only 3
years. their higher level stuff for 5.]

besides, [when cold] you should always check in the radiator, not the
expansion bottle. any pressurization failure allows the system to suck
back air, not fluid from the bottle - you can have a perfectly normal
looking bottle level, but a completely empty radiator. always always
check in the radiator. and as tegger correctly advises you [again], you
should consider replacing the radiator cap on intervals to ensure it
doesn't fail and cause a much more seriously expensive repairs.

two more things:
1. never top up with just water - you'll easily get the concentration
too diluted and mess up the corrosion protection [see above].
2. unless it's an emergency, never top up with tap water. use
de-ionized. minerals in tap water can increase corrosion of the metals
in the system and prematurely compromise coolant pump seals.

 

So Honda's now allowing ten whole years on the original coolant fill? Wow.
You're absolutely sure about that?

I'd give more info about the rad/tank fill thing, but most posters tend to
be unable to handle more than one point at a time, so I'll hold off in case
you're one of those.

 

I just checked the schedule for my '06 CRV. Sure enough, on the "normal"
schedule its 120,000 miles/10 years. On the "severe" schedule the first
change is 120,000 miles/10 years, then every 60,000 miles/5 years after
that.

 

The factory fill must be different from the stuff Honda sells to the
dealers, and completely different from what the aftermarket sells.

In that case, it is a REALLY bad idea to mix Honda coolant and aftermarket
coolant. Honda will have formulated its dealers' coolant to be compatible
with the super-long-life stuff the factory puts in.

 

The manual for my 2004 Civic says the same thing.

 

I just did a quick search of my Honda Service News publications (something
I should have done in the first place). Lo and behold, I find a juicy
tidbit in the September '00 issue.

In a section called "New Honda Fluids Available Soon", there is this
paragraph:
"All Season Antifreeze/Coolant Type 2.
This new, ultra-longlife coolant is the factory-fill in /all/ ’01 Honda
models. It comes premixed and /must/ be used full strength. /Never/ add
water to it. In sales applications, you’ll see it promoted as a 10-
year/120,000 mile coolant, but in service applications, you’ll see it
promoted as a 5-year/60,000 mile coolant. The reason for this difference is
that old coolant still in the cooling system, or water left after flushing,
keeps the rust inhibitors in the new type coolant from lasting the full
design life specified for a Type 2 coolant."

So what the dealer sells is the same as the factory fill, but is subject to
different conditions within the cooling system.

 

Yup, use Honda coolant only. I would not chance it with other brands.