What is the corect antifreeze in a 1993 Honda Civic and timing belt horrors

I have read the post about the honda antifreeze controversy. I went to the
Honda dealer in Fairbanks and they don;t even carry the red stuff. They told
me they use plain old green antifreeze and have for years even in the new
Hondas when the are winterized. Still I am wondering why Honda would say to
use their particular brand???? I've read that the orange Dex-cool will
corrode brass and copper???? but is OK for aluminum.!!??? WHat's the
deal??????????????
I know in boiler systems, (like in homes) that the boiler coolant needs to
be checkd for acidity and low temp protection, just like in a car... and
that if it gets acidy it can corrode the cast iron ina boiler...Boilers have
copper and cast iron in them...

I also know I ran pure water in a boiler for 18 years and finally drained it
to replace the heat exchanger and the inside of the boiler was clean as a
whistle...still I refilled with antifreeze in case the power ever goes off
and every thing freezes up.

ANyway back to the Honda antifreeze . How can I get genuine Honda antifreeze
here in Fairbanks????

Also, one other question, I asked the HOnda dealer how much to R&R the
timing belt. I told them I didn;t want to attempt it myself for fear of
getting the belt off one tooth and damaging the valves.(though I have
changed
timing belts on TOyota tercels.) Ironically, the service manager looked
funny and then told me they( the dealer just haad that very problem. THe
Honda dealership mechanic just changed the timing belt , got it a few teeth
off and trashed the valves before he figured it all out. Now the dealer is
trying to figure out what to do. Needless to say I left the dealer not
impressed at all.
I found another"hole in the wall type" shop who says they will change the
belt for me. I asked them
to change the water pump, seals, tensioners and all the belts and hoses at
the same time they are in there.... this is a 1993 Civic EX with 57,000 but
I don;t know the history of the car too well... Any advice or maybe I should
go back to my detroit hunk of iron, a 1974 GMC 3/4 ton that I have driven
for 157,000 miles...... "Froze-up in Fairbanks"..

 

I didn't need to change the antifreeze on a Honda yet because I used to have
a 2001 Civic and now have a 2002 CR-V.
I first heard about not using prestone here. Everybody says that it damages
Honda water pumps.

Now, for the timing belt.
During my university years, I has several old cars. None of them has been at
the dealer when I owned them.
There was a small garage next to my parents place owned by my friend's dad
and I found another small independent garage where I studied. Both would
work on my car while I was standing next to them chatting. These garages
never screwed up anything on my cars and they saved me lot of money on
several occasions by fixing things instead of just replacing. And none of my
cars ever broke down on me leaving me walking, except for one alternator
failure that I replaced myself.
What I'm saying here is that once the warranty is over, it's better to find
a good independent shop and stick with it.
I had one timing belt changed at Mazda dealer once. Everything went ok.
Their price was bit higher for the belt but they replaced my valve cover
seal under warranty and adjusted my valves for free.

 

Correct antifreeze is what they sell in the grey bottles as Genuine Honda
Antifreeze, premixed. Green. Dealer SHOULD be able to get it for you,
otherwise it is not a Honda dealer anymore ;-).
It has to do with the aluminum block (not many cars in 93 had aluminum
blocks), special chemical and temperature-resistant features of the Genuine
antifreeze.
Yellow and other green aftermarket stuff is safe to use on cast iron blocks
without bothering yourself about getting Genuine something. Pink/orange is
for newer cars (not for Hondas, I dont think, even though they may claim
compatibility.)
Check for the best prices at
www.hparts.com
they have toll-free number listed. High-quality service, BTW

 

Yeah, and I forgot about the water pump seal that may be shut after using
aftermarket coolant like, say, Prestone. $50 in parts and $400 in labor at
the dealer (roughly).

 

I called the Honda Dealer in Anchorage today and they said they sell Honda
brand anti freeze. THey said they THINK the main difference is that Honda
brand antifreeeze is formulated a bit different adn it has to do with
corrosion protection of the engine and it's aluminum parts.
Other web sites talked about silicates in some antifreeeze and that honda
antifreeze has NO silicates. I suspect Honda antifreeze is formulated a bit
differnt than prestone or the organic orange antifreezes..... anyway I am
not sure it is worth taking a chance unless one knows for sure since hte
honda civic only hold a littel antifreeze. Honda brand antifreeze in
Anchorage is $17.00 a gallon, un mixed....

 

Little over $9 per gallon PRE-MIXED in Wisconsin. I pay it only once every
30,000 miles and don't think about silicates or non-silicates. Do the same.