Re: Antifreeze issue

Quick response from a 1991 Civic (171k miles) (original) owner:

What I've seen generally is mixing different anti-freezes, even if they're
the same color, is a bad idea. Definitely do not mix a conventional Prestone
green with the OEM coolant, which may be the blue stuff at the dealer's.
Definitely do not mix orange with green, etc. (Of course the color coding
implies a particular, certain chemistry, hence the advice not to mix.)

Ideally, do a flush (which is just a drain, fill, drain, etc. a few times).
You can probably get away with just a full drain (including engine block
drain plug removed), but it doesn't take but a few minutes to go the next
step and fill and drain a few more times. I just used hose water for this.
Of note is that, when I measured all the coolant in my Civic's cooling
system this past April, what came out matched exactly the capacities listed
in the manual. The point being that a drain, fill, drain etc. should get
darn near everything old out.

The drain and fill also removes a lot of sand-like sediment that can impede
proper cooling or maybe bind mechanical parts. Around a 1/4 teaspoon of this
came out when I did a drain and fill after about 2.5 years this past April.
That may not seem like much, but ISTM some of the passages and the water
pump clearances are small and could cause the aforementioned problems.
(Someone else might elaborate.)

Generic anti-freezes are said to cause water pump (bearing?) problems. I
can't say for sure, but I know I had water pump problems after using the
green stuff. Lots of folks have testified here to the same. Three years ago
I switched to the orange (after a very thorough flush). I have had no water
pump problems since. The water pump is currently 4 years and 60k miles old,
having lasted much longer than the previous one (or two). I'll replace it in
two more years, when I do the timing belt. I won't be hitting the mileage
spec.

About anti-freeze shelf life, from Havoline's orange Dex Cool site: "The
primary limiting factor in the shelf life of a coolant is silicate
instability. Since silicate will eventually polymerize to silicate gel, all
traditional coolants have a shelf life of about 18 months. Havoline Extended
Life Anti-Freeze/Coolant DEX-COOL is silicate-free and therefore can be
stored for at least 8 years without a problem, provided the integrity of the
container is maintained."
http://www.havoline.com/products/na/antifreeze_01_tech.html

For distilled water, I just buy a gallon marked "distilled" at the grocery
store. Dunno about the lab water. The grocery gallon is cheap and common
enough.

Suggestion: List the year, miles, and model of Honda you own if you have
more technical questions.

"Subhabrata Bhattacharyya" <sb4st@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote
> My car has enough Antifreeze (green one) in the radiator but little above
> the min. mark in the tank. I read Elle's post and thought to top it up and
> contacted Honda dealer to get the Antifreeze. They said they no longer
sale
> the green one anymore. They sell the blue one. I asked whether I need to
> flush out the old one to put in a blue one, the guy said "sure!" but after
a
> quasi long pause!! So, my question to this trusted group of mine is:
>
> 1) Is it okay to use a generic green antifreeze from Pennzoil? (It's about
> half the price!)
> 2) Is it okay to mix it with the old green antifreeze? Does it have any
> break down period like the way engine oil does?
> 3) Can I use the double distilled, deionozed water that is available in
> laboratories?


.

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