kaivorth

The car is coming along GREAT so far. You all have been soooo much help in the last week.
Ordered a bunch of stuff, now looking to do a system flush of the car.
I want to flush out:

Brake Fluid
Power steering Fluid
Engine Coolant
Radiator
Tranny (This is a manual, do I need anything for this?)

What are the best of each fluid I should be looking at? Going to bring a product for each and bring them to a shop to have them do. Assume it should take only 1-2hrs to bleed everything and fill her up right?

Anything else I should do while I'm there?

dr_spock

Genuine Honda fluids.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Never flush a system, unless you want to potentially incur more damage. Simply drain and refill the fluids in question.

MikesEJ1

word

kaivorth

Nothing better than stock here?
Well that's what I meant I suppose. Just wanted the best brands if there were any brands that are better.

bbarbulo

i've heard of people running ford brake fluid from the SVT cars in honda vehicles but i haven't tried it myself. it has a significantly higher boiling point. if you don't care about that (ie. no track time or hill climbs), then there is no reason not to run genuine honda stuff. and yes, most failed head gaskets are due to poor (non-oem) coolant being used. tranny and power steering certainly OEM fluids. for the minimal investment, it's cheap insurance against future big dollar repairs.

EM2abe

Brake Fluid - There's a DIY. easier with two people.
Power steering Fluid - There's a DIY. also easier with two people.
Engine Coolant - There's a DIY. use BLUE honda coolant only. not green.
Radiator - There's a DIY. use BLUE honda coolant only. not green.
Tranny (This is a manual, do I need anything for this?) - There's a DIY but it's pretty much like draining and refilling your motor oil. again, only use the HONDA MTF

all in all this should take you about 3 hours to do, if you have a handy helper to do the brakes and power steering. do a search and your gonna find a lot of DIY stuff on how to do it at home so you only end up spending about $60 on fluids, instead of $200 at the mechanic's place that might also incur some extra fees due to ill repairs on your vehicle when all the work is "done correctly" or lack thereof.

kaivorth

So pretty much only Honda branded fluids? Nothing better than what they use? I wasn't really looking for a DIY. Was going to bring the fluids to a mechanic to do. I don't have the time or a good place to do any of this.
Was going to have the car oil undercoated as well, and just have him look at everything and see if I need anything else.

Might replace the air/oil filter as well...Any particular brands on this I should use? I want to avoid K/N...Maybe Wix?

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I've been running factory coolant in my track car for years. I do run expensive brake fluid and oil... but then again, my car operates under much more stress then the average Civic out there. And, realistically, you wouldn't need to waste money on that unless you were planning on tracking the car.

EM2abe

no friends to let you use their garage? you'd save load of money on labor costs... anyway, the K&N air filter is actually pretty decent, being that its reuseable. it pays for itself within two or three cycles, and its pretty cheap on amazon. $35 last i checked. as far as oil filters go, the mobil 1 oil filters and K&N oils filters are probably the best choice. they're pretty much the same exact thing, the only difference being that the K&N one has the end where you can use a wrench to loosen it(making it more expensive). if you want to spend a couple dollars less, go for the bosch. though i have seen people complain about them, i've seen more complaints on other brands aside from bosh. never seen a complaint on the mobil 1 or K&N filters though. also keep in mind that you can use 0w20 oil in your car as well as 5w20. though i choose to use 0w20 when available because it is thinner at standing temperature and lubricates components faster when you start your motor.

DELuth

kaivorth

OEM it is then.
I just don't like K&N air filters...they have holes through them, for more airflow, but less filtering am I right?

DELuth

I wouldn't put a K&N on a lawn mower. If you like dirt in your engine, get a K&N. Wipe your fingers inside an intake tube that has had good paper filters in it and it will be clean. With K&N it will be lined with dirt. Guess where the rest of the dirt went. Better flow, yes. Better filtration, no way.

btw, the last guy was talking about oil filters, not air filters.

EM2abe

when i referred to air filters, i was referring to the K&N air filter. the one i had before my car was totaled was fine. filtration worked fine and such. at every cleaning, ive had no problem with dirt. checked my throttle body every single time i went to clean the air filter and no dirt along the walls of the throttle body or anywhere else. and i do live in a dusty climate when summer comes around. so i can attest to the air filter. its decent for the pricing. will you make better HP? probably not. will your car see any sort of gain in mpg's? maybe, maybe not. i just liked it because i never had to make a trip to the store for a stinkin paper air filter.

kaivorth

This was my thought process..
Now you're making me second guess myself..

EM2abe

i'll put it like this... you can buy a paper filter at autozone/walmart/oreilleys for $25... or you can buy a $50 K&N air filter at autozone/oreilleys. plus the cleaning kit for $20 more.

even better, go on amazon and buy the filter for $35 and buy the cleaning kit for $12. and never have to buy a new one again. until you decide, that you want to for ***** and giggles. hahaha

letank

The cooling system if it has been neglected can use a good flush with the appropriate chemicals. It will clean up some scaling and the engine will run cooler.
The issue with headgasket is the fact that coolant needs to be replaced every 2 or 3 years as it degrades, it creates a galvanic reaction -battery effect- that will dissolve some parts of the head, leading to a headgasket failure.
I have been using the green stuff for over 20 years, but he blue stuff is better, and is in my next coolant flush.

As for Honda specs fluids, 20 years ago there was not such a thing, may be the Honda PS fluid, it is amazing that now most companies claim to have their specific oil and coolant.

Check this article:
http://artsautomotive.com/publicatio...genuine-fluids

All the chemicals have to be of a specific norm, like the engine oil is rated by the API such as SL, SM, and the last is SN.

http://www.pqiamerica.com/apiserviceclass.htm