I switched to Peak Global Lifetime coolant (amber in color) when I did a B16 swap into a junk yard Civic. The engine came with traces of green coolant, and the Civic was full of murky green when I got it.

I replaced the radiator, water pump, and had the engine on a stand for a while, so I'm pretty sure there was no green coolant left. To be sure I filled it with distilled water, ran it, and drained it twice. I topped it off with 50:50 Peak Global and distilled water.

Within a week, the heater core failed and filled my footwells with coolant. Considering the condition of the rest of the car, it could have just been a coincidence. However, whenever I open the hood, there's a faint smell of coolant. Yesterday, I took off the rear support bracket for the exhaust manifold, and below the intake manifold has a mist of coolant all over it. There is also heavy corrosion on the ports for the heater in and out on the thermostat housing when they were shiny and clean a few hundred miles ago.

Could just be gaskets and fittings showing their age, but I'm nervous that switching coolant types is now eating away at the coolant passages. It's just that a lot is going wrong at once. Should I be worried?

 

no.. there both universal type coolants...just dont use dexcool lol

 

Thanks for the peace of mind. So I just need to get back to systematically replacing every gasket.

Anybody else using amber coolant in a Honda?

 

In my experiences switching from factory recommended coolant types will always cause problems. I've worked in auto service for three years and have seen plenty of people mix or switch coolants and it always ends badly. Sometime it just takes longer. But i would just stick with honda recommendations and if you want you can add some redline water wetter import tuner mag did a test and it works. http://www.importtuner.com/reviews/i...ves/index.html

 

But now that it's switched, there's no going back to recommended? Or can I drain, flush and go back to green at this point?

 

the honda blue coolant is always a good choice...I use green because its so abundant...if it really bothers you, take it to a dealer and get them to flush it with the OE blue coolant...

 

didn't think there was so much fuss when it came to coolant.......... nice to kno thanx for the thread

 

Colour has less to do with compatibility than actual coolant- what you need is a good flush, then use destilled water (this will prevent mineral deposits in system) and a coolant low on silicates(safe for aluminum engines).