honda_man_sc

Hi all,

A couple of days back we had low 20s temps here and I thought to check my antifreeze. I noticed the reservoir was dry and since I live 15 miles from the Honda dealership I drove over to nearest walmart and bought antifreeze for an alum. engine. Topped off the reservoir with 50/50 antifreeze and distilled water. Two days later I'm getting on the interstate on the outskirts of town and the car overheats. I made it to a Shell station and checked the antifreeze. Dry again. I bought a gallon of Shell's antifreeze and added water from their spigot....and limped a quarter mile at a time to the only automotive place in the area (O'Reillys) where the staff sold me a thermostat (and a Chilton's manual) and helped me remove old and install the new thermostat. I made it maybe 2 miles before overheating. Long story short I eventually made it home with some kind of gelatinous mix in my radiator and now wonder what to do about cleaning it out. I could take it to some place like Jiffy Lube or Walmart and have them flush it for me. The shell antifreeze says nothing about aluminum engines and I'm guessing the sludge inside got worse as I limped home. Nothing is close by so is there any thing I can do with a garden hose to at least partially flush enough to drive a few miles. Also..maybe it's me..but my heat seems to be out after thermostat change out. Thanks for any advice.

dnguyen2010

yes, you should be able to flush your radiator with a garden hose. However, the impurities from the water might damage the seals and rust the internal parts of the engine and waterpump. If you're decided to flush w/ garden hose, flush a few times with Honda Type2 coolant or Prestone green coolant w/ Silica free to dilute the water that's still in the engine.

Have you noticed any leak from the engine compartment? Do you have aftermarket radiator?

honda_man_sc

After changing out the thermostat I looked for leaks and saw none. But that was before a long drive home after dark in rainy 38 degree weather. I'd drive about a 1/4 mile and she'd peg the temp guage and I'd let her sit for five minutes or so before starting back up.

I think what I'll do is drain all coolant and fill her up with distilled water. Then let her run for a couple of minutes and drain again. Maybe go through that twice and then fill with honda coolant with the thermostat bleed bolt open. And if that doesn't take I'll use a real alum engine flush with the thermostat out and try all again.

honda_man_sc

This is the original radiator.

dnguyen2010

Don't run the car with water, because water has lower boiling point than 50/50 mixed antifreeze. You might damage some seals and crack your radiator when water boil.