green antifreeze in my 93 civic

I've been following the thread on Honda brand antifreeze, and I noticed
the comments about Prestone not belonging in a Honda.

I noticed green antifreeze in my 93 civic that I bought from a friend
recently. What potential hazards am I dealing with? What's the best
way to get it all out if I'm going to replace it?

 

The only hazard is that honda isn't making 9500% profit.

Flushing it out every other summer is sufficient.

 

honda has used green antifreeze in the past, does not mean its prestone.

 

So what's the deal with Prestone anyway? Is it really a problem?
I'm pretty sure our friends weren't taking their 13 year old car to a
Honda dealer for service, by the way.

 

fluid services make up a huge portion of profit for Honda dealerships,
and so they started the campaigns for their proprietary fluids, even
motor oil!!

i like Honda engineering, but i hate their marketing with a passion.

i've never visited a dealership or buy anything from them. i bought
OEM parts elsewhere if i need too. and i'm open to aftermarket parts.
Boy! you have no idea what kind of fluid i'm running on my 89 Honda
power steering!!!

the concentration of silicate in traditional green coolant is about 59
ppm, not much, but enough for Honda's scaring tactic to work!! and
let me tell you the green dye just won't die!!. i drained the green
coolant and re-filled the radiator with amber/yellow antifreez and now
the whole thing is green! WTF?

it's the long life aspect of the PEAK LongLife coollant, and its
compatibility with all kind of proprietary coolants (except for diesel
egnines) that appeal to me..

http://www.peakantifreeze.com/referencechart.html

 

I don't give a shit if is blue and has little pink clovers in it.

What matters is that it has sufficient thermal mass and that it won't
corrode the cooling system.

Paying twenty times more for a half percent improvement in performance
is simple insanity.

 

What if they really really want that special feeling of pride that comes
from having spent too much?

 

Premature water pump failure. Saw it on my 91 Civic after a
few years of using the Prestone and similar stuff. One
cannot definitely blame the coolant, of course, but other
reports here tend to support the theory. The net may have
more.

I have used the orange Havoline anti-freeze in my Civic
since about 2002, with no problems. The water pump was new
in 2001. Technically, it's due for replacement, but that's
another thread.

Part of the directions for replacing the coolant say to
remove the drain bolt on the engine block. It can be hard to
remove, but you really do want to remove it, since doing so
ensures a good drain and fill. The first time I did this on
my 91 Civic around 1993 it was very difficult to loosen. But
I did not have a deep socket, nor breaker bar yada, and was
not as handy then. Now I find it easy to remove and have
done so with little problems for the last several changes
over some eight years or so.

With the engine block drain bolt removed, you can really
flush the system pretty well, in my estimation, with a
garden hose placed in the radiator mouth, the radiator drain
plug shut, and with the water running out the engine block
drain bolt hole. For the early flushes, catch the coolant
that comes out with the water, since you don't want it
poisoning animals.

A bit of water will remain in the engine block when you are
done. You can do the persnickety calculations to account for
it and compensate with a slightly higher concentration of
anti-freeze, assuming you are using orange Havoline and not
OEM pre-mix. Or you might be fine blowing off the small
amount that stays in the block.

You will want some non-hardening high temperature sealant
for the engine block drain bolt threads. One of the Permatex
sealants says on its packaging it is good for the drain bolt
on the engine block. The sealant is per the maintenance
instructions. You will also need a new gasket for the drain
bolt.

 

my official honda antifreeze seems to be green.

 

the main thing is that older cars used silicate in the antifreeze to
eliminate scaling, supposedly that's too abrasive for hondas. i don't
know whatever else in the formula has changed.

 

my story on this is that when i went to change the coolant myself
first time, i sweated with the bolt until i had rounded it off good,
socket and all, because the head is so shallow. when i went to the
dealer to get a replacement, they had no idea what i was talking
about. yell over to the service bays "hey charlie, you know anything
about a drain bolt in a civic engine?" charlie comes over to see,
because he has no idea what that's all about. i never did get that
bolt out.....

 

The last sentence aboves is the one which deserves emphasis.
If Charlie is not removing that drain bolt, then why the
hell am I!? ;-) Oh yes, because I do coolant changes better
and for less money.

My 91 Civic engine's coolant drain bolt is a bit rounded
from the first attempt years ago. I was at the junkyard last
year sometime and removed a few of those drain bolts on c.
1990 Civics. (I wanted to see if there was a gasket there or
not; long story.) They generally came off easily.

It's probably best to make the attempt in either warmer
weather, with a slightly warm engine, or both. Come to think
of it, the first time I drained the coolant was a chilly
autumn or late winter day in the Midwest.

Or maybe Honda uses a fancier sealant (compared to the
Permatex I use) on those drain bolt threads when the car
comes right out of the factory. Or right out of the factory
that puppy is really torqued. Either perhaps could be making
the first loosening of the drain bolt difficult.

 

From what I've heard, the "new" honda antifreeze is also green, like the
old silicate kind. Just to confuse us?

I just use the "new" prestone orange stuff in my old honda and acura.
Cheaper too. I don't buy the "honda fluids" only except when it comes
to power steering fluid, and even then I use a generic brand.

dan

 

it was mostly bad access; the bolt is behind the exhaust manifold, and
getting a straight shot was difficult, and like I said the head is
very flat, so that the socket was canted somewhat sideways and just
kept falling off rounding off the head. at least i could see that i
would want to replace it with an intact bolt. my plan was to goop up
the bolt with the teflon based sealant so that it would be better
behaved next time. now you've got me all enthused to try it again.

hey, maybe i can buy a set of headers, and take the opportunity to
access the bolt while the manifold is off.... now look what you've
done.

 

I have actually replaced my blood with Honda brand Driver Circulatory
Fluid, in order to get the longest life from my automobile. It's
expensive, but I figure it's worth it.

 

Official Honda coolant is transparent dark blue and has been for at least
several years.

The old Honda coolant was green. It was not the bright fluorescent green
that's associated with Prestone, but a transparent, dull, dark green.

 

Don't turn your head unless you've replaced your fluid with official
Honda Head Turning Fluid. Otherwise, damage will result to the neck
and spinal column assembly.

 

I stand corrected, thank you. Actually, I'm glad they make it a
different color.

dan

 

So am I. The blue goes so well with the color of my valve cover.

 

too late. you oughta hear it creaking and groaning.

how'd your engine swap ever turn out?