help on honda antifreeze

ok im at my dads grr dial up is so awefull plus grandma is in room lol. tyhis dail up is slower cause its free and has adds well any ways my question is my dad has a 2002 honda acord in manual it says use honda anto freeze only.is that just bs? he donty mind paying extra is realy diefent so is it any diiferent im doiug maintace on his cars hi every one btw aint sure when ill log on again this is way slowwwww isp hope you all r doing well

Hi raggie /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif. Is grandma asleep /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sleepy.gif? As far as I know the only reason Honda says to use their antifreeze is because they make it and want to sell their product only. In other words its a bunch of BS /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/knight.gif, or maybe horse s. My wife used to own a Honda Accord and the mechanics I know all said that it did not make any difference at all.

Use what ever brand you want, but make SURE you use it. It is not only Anti-Freeze, it is also Coolant (keeps rediator from boiling)

If you are not familiar with mfg recommendations for (mfg), Honda oil, Honda anti-freeze, Honda transmission fluid etc.

It's alway a good thing to ask. Most are a bunch of BS, however some are not. Certain mfg require specific fluids be used in transmissions. If you use the wrong fluid, damage will result.

It's always best to ask an experienced machanic, but most time you will not be able to get thru to one. Most will not want to tell you how to do a job. One of the best ways to gain valid information is talk to the parts guy. Find an experience parts person. He is motivated to help you find a solution and sell you the parts. VS the mechanic which wants you to bring the car in for service.

Anti-freeze is ethlene Glycol and additives. The mfg will usually add waterpump lube, anti corrosion, coloring etc.

anti-freeze doesnot wear out, but the addititives do. Simply add waterpump lubricant every 3-4 years or so.

Use Bars leak and no other, to take care of small leaks. Major auto mfg will use bars leak as OEM equipment loaded in new cars.

This is based off of many years of automotive experience.

Raggie, I did a little googling on the subject and my consensus is this:

Use the Honda coolant.

Among other things, it is required to use the Honda coolant to keep your warranty intact. Mix it with distilled water.

If you absolutely insist on not using the Honda coolant, at least find a coolant that is phosphate, borate, and silicate free. These chemicals wear out the water pump seal in your Honda which could cause the water pump, and timing belt, to go kaput prematurely.

Maybe it's all marketing, but even expensive coolant is cheap insurance on that new a car /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

some anti freeze comes pre mixed with water
some dosen't.
I use distilled water with my anti freeze
only costs me an extra buck or so
and it tastes much better
a safe bet is a 50 50 mix of water and anti freeze(safe for your car)
some newer cars use a different formulation of anti freeze.
some cars there is a special proceedure to flush the cooling system and to purge air out of the cooling system so that you not end up with pockets of air or steam in the cylinder head etc.
I had an audi that was a real pain to flush and install new coolant.

I have a 89 grand am that is different than my 88
Both have different versions of the 2.3 quad four.
the 88 has 35 more hp stock(not stock anymore)and has a radiator cap.
the 89 does not have a radiator cap

on a 2002 honda I would refer to a repair manual or something just to be sure.

What color is the antifreeze. There are different kinds not, the old green, the orange and the other is I think pink. Basically the color is added to denote the type so as long as you add the same color you should be safe.

All automotive anti-freeze is eythlene glycol, reguardless of the color. edit: it seems they may have come out with organic anti-freeze, which is color coded.

Please don't taste anti-freeze, it will kill you by causing kidney failure. It tastes sweet by the way, that way dogs will sometime lick. always be careful of cleanup.

Actually not all anti-freeze is the same, even if the color is the same. To quote Popular Mechanics:

How about just pouring orange antifre eze into every cooling system, say, yours? Sorry, but it's not that simple. The new organic acid antifreezes may be used only if the cooling system has an aluminum radiator (rather than copper-and-brass).

However, let's assume the reaso n you're thinking of a coolant change is because you're changing a cooling system part (pump, radiator, heater, thermostat housing) on a system with a conventional coolant, not an organic acid orange or pink. In that case, don't change to organic acid ora nge, even if the part you're installing is aluminum. Use a fresh fill of familiar U.S. yellow/gold or green silicated antifreeze.

The two orange extended-life antifreezes are compatible with each other, with what's factory-fill in GM ca rs and the '99 Mercury Cougar, and with the pink in VW/Audi cars. However, they're not compatible with a special orange antifreeze in 1998-99 Chrysler L/H cars (Dodge Intrepid/Chrysler Concorde and 300M), a special "hybrid" mix of organic acids and silicates. The green in most Japanese cars contains no silicates, so it's not the same as the green in the parts store. The yellow in some European cars contains some silicates, but it's very different from yellow Prestone, the top-selling U.S. brand. And then there is red antifreeze used by Toyota, and blue used on some European and Korean cars.

yes do not consume anti freeze
my joke was in bad taste (but sweet)
sorry

new fangle technoloy.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I stand corrected. I had no idea, they've come out with organic anti-freeze.

please note honda a/f is ALREADY PREMIXED with distilled 50-50. DO NOT add distilled. that's what i read on the last bottle of honda a/f i got.

I think Honda comes in both varieties (Straight and pre-mixed).

Read the bottle for best results...

fair enough, read the bottle /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif before you pour LOL

By the way, I would recommend Alumna-Seal (sp?) if you need any stop leak.

From 30 years ago, working a few years in a radiator shop, we made good money "rodding" out radiators that where stopped up with Barr's leak and others... Alumnaseal won't stop any big leaks, and frankly almost any leak will need to be properly repaired or the part replaced--but the Alumnaseal did not cause worst problems (unlike other stop-leaks) (it was fun to put a copper and brass radiator in the Lye boil-out tank and watch it fizz as the Alumnaseal was dissolved out).

In the end, change the Anti-Freeze when recommended, use the correct Anti-Freeze, use distilled water (especially if you have hard water in your area) and you will have the best cooling system life.

Lastly, one recommendation, if you have cats (or fuzzy dogs) that live in the garage or around your car, or drive in an area where you can pick-up fur or stuff like fluff from dog-wood trees--check the face of the radiator and make sure it is clear. Especially if you have an air conditioner condenser in front of the radiator...

I have seen many a car overheat because of cat fur and other stuff trapped between the air condenser and the radiator. A good fix is to get one of the plastic screen door screens from the auto parts store (or hardware store) and place that in front of the air-conditioner condenser--that seemed to stop the fluff from collecting and the plastic screen was self cleaning (fur did not seem to stick).

-Bill

[ QUOTE ]
BB said:
By the way, I would recommend Alumna-Seal (sp?) if you need any stop leak.

From 30 years ago, working a few years in a radiator shop, we made good money "rodding" out radiators that where stopped up with Barr's leak and others... Alumnaseal won't stop any big leaks, and frankly almost any leak will need to be properly repaired or the part replaced--but the Alumnaseal did not cause worst problems (unlike other stop-leaks) (it was fun to put a copper and brass radiator in the Lye boil-out tank and watch it fizz as the Alumnaseal was dissolved out).

In the end, change the Anti-Freeze when recommended, use the correct Anti-Freeze, use distilled water (especially if you have hard water in your area) and you will have the best cooling system life.

Lastly, one recommendation, if you have cats (or fuzzy dogs) that live in the garage or around your car, or drive in an area where you can pick-up fur or stuff like fluff from dog-wood trees--check the face of the radiator and make sure it is clear. Especially if you have an air conditioner condenser in front of the radiator...

I have seen many a car overheat because of cat fur and other stuff trapped between the air condenser and the radiator. A good fix is to get one of the plastic screen door screens from the auto parts store (or hardware store) and place that in front of the air-conditioner condenser--that seemed to stop the fluff from collecting and the plastic screen was self cleaning (fur did not seem to stick).

-Bill

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Yeah people, read this hair advice again. Excellent tip. I don't know about the screen part though... I just spray out the radiator from before with a hose periodically.

Also, thanks for the tip on the red toyota antifreeze.

Whatever you do, don't run with pure water. If it doesn't boil first, the hot water will *quickly* corrode your radiator, creating leaks before you can say 'Jack Robinson'.

[ QUOTE ]
BB said:From 30 years ago, working a few years in a radiator shop, we made good money "rodding" out radiators that where stopped up with Barr's leak and others... -Bill

[/ QUOTE ] Are you so sure the plugged up material was barr's leak and not something else? don't know if they are still doing it currently, but major auto manf have been sending new cars with it installed for years.

I agree that leaks of any size needs to be fixed by actually fixing the hole. I use Barr's leak to take care of any weeping on bypass hoses and anywhere else. I've had good luck using it for very minor head gasket, water to oil leakage.

I've sold hundreds of bottles of both Barr's and alumina seal. In 10+ years, I've never had a single customer come back and compaint of pluging problems in their radiators. That was the only two brands I would handle.

It has been many years since I have worked on car radiators but back then, between the thin radiator tubs of Chrysler brand vehicles, hard water deposits, old anti-freeze, and rust, I had found that ANY STOP LEAK will have a tendency to further stop-up any partially restricted radiators and heater cores.

The advantage of Alumna-Seal was that the aluminum in Alumna-Seal was almost instantly dissolved in a "boil-out" tank (lye and water heated to the boiling point). Barr's leak and any of the others would require us to take the radiators/heaters apart to clean the passages out. I sometimes would even pull a hand full of stop leak (looking a bit like soft coffee grounds) from the top (input) tank of a radiator.

But in the end, I would only use any stop-leak as a last resort or in an emergency only. They are only good, at best, for temporary fixes.

With the newer vehicles, many (if not most by now) radiators are made of aluminum and plastic--Dumping one of those in a boil-out tank for more than a few seconds would leave me with just a hand-full of plastic parts at the bottom of the tank.

I highly recommend that you don't let the cooling system start rusting/corroding in the first place by letting the anti-freeze go bad... Even back thirty years ago, some makes of cars never where the same--Even after cleaning solutions, new radiators, and back-flushing (compressed air and water ran backwards through the engine/radiator) would not prevent the rusty water from quickly returning--even with new coolant. Some brands where worst than others--but unless you are still running a '56 Chevy with a straight six and some water soluble oil--any modern car needs the good anti-freeze and service per the owners manual.

Lastly, the plastic screen material was sold as "bug screen" for radiators and I did find that it prevented bugs from sticking to the face of the radiator. But the other advantage was it seemed to keep cat fur from collecting too.

-Bill