rocket30004

Need to flush my fluids out and before making a trip to the dealer, wanted to know if anyone knows who the supplier of the Honda fluid is... thought I could save a few bucks and buy it w/o the Honda label stuck on there

I know a local part place that carries a lot of OE-supplier stuff and has saved me quite a few bucks in the past.

rocket30004

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Man don't even worry about using Honda-branded coolant. Go buy a bottle of Prestone green coolant, and a gallon of distilled water, mix them in a bucket and pour it into your already-flushed cooling system.

I've been running Prestone for nearly 5 years and well over 100K miles without problems.

Then in the future if you need to top off the cooling system or if you drain only the radiator for whatever reason and need to refill that, buy a gallon of the Prestone green 50/50 pre-mixed coolant. I wouldn't buy 2 gallons of the pre-mixed when flushing and refilling, though (takes about 1.5 gallons) because it's cheaper to buy 1 gallon of straight coolant and 1 gallon of distilled water and mix it yourself.

rocket30004

Will do! Seems to be the response I'm getting.

I guess I am just used to strictly buying OE fluids for my old cars (VW/Audi). If you didn't use the OE stuff then you would have a huge headache in the near future.

BUT, I'd still be interested to know who makes it... some crazy japanese supplier whose stuff is not available locally or a local brand...?

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

for all we know the stuff supplied to American Honda could be Prestone with a Honda label on it.

ekb16

iTrader: (1)

Honda coolant is now blue instead of the green neon color

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

oh boyeee it's ricer blue now!!!11!!one!

whoopee I'll stick with my Prestone green.

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Just thought of something else, too... if it's blue, I wonder if it looks like windshield washer fluid? Seems like a pretty dumb thing to do (make a fluid look like a different fluid).

quicksilver1689

how about make it clear and give it too our pets?

BigMoose

Search on my user name and fleetcharge. I have written on this before.

I have been using Fleetcharge, a low silicate, no phosphate, nitrite stabilized antifreeze for years in my two honda's, my GM trucks, my gas tractors and diesel tractors/mowers/backhoes/trackhoes... It is designed for Class 8 truck service, and has given perfect service in all applications listed. You get it at a Farm Implement or Diesel/Semi Tractor service shop. About 8 bucks a gallon, mix with distilled water 50/50. This stuff lasts forever. It has a replenisher for the additive package. I keep testing my equipment and only the heavy duty diesels needed a few ounces at 5 years. I do not change it, just replenish the additive package as the analysis indicates. I consider this product a "Fill for Life" coolant in all MY applications. You may choose otherwise, but I don't have the time to waste time and money on things that don't need fixing...

Here is a little article on this stuff

http://www.fleetchargeantifree...c.htm

http://www.fleetchargeantifreeze.com/mixed_a2.htm

BTW, I have had silicate drop out numerous times with prestone green. I now consider it suitable for protecting the toilets from freezing at hunting camp only... Prestone is also hard, very hard on water pump seals. ... and don't get me started on DexCool... I have posted on that product before also... I won't even pour that into my toilets...

BTW Fleetcharge is a kewl RED color!

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Interesting.... I started using Prestone shortly after I first bought my car with 89K miles on it. At 90K I changed the timing belt but neglected to change the water pump. I finally did change the water pump along with the timing belt at 180K miles, just as preventative maintenance. Even with nearly 90K miles of Prestone coolant use, the original water pump w/ 180K on it had no problems, no leaks or anything.

But I might consider that Fleet stuff next time I flush the system. Any possible problems switching from one coolant to the other? I always flush out my system with the garden hose and then drain the water out of the block before refilling the coolant, any problems doing that? I do mix my coolant with distilled water for sure.

BigMoose

No problem if you flush the system. Good luck! I tend to get a "little" biased when a products performance falls short of what I personally expect. I hate maintenance issues with the number of engines I have to keep running... so you may need to filter a bit my criticisms...

loudassVTEC

Yes...Honda coolant is now blue, and in the over-flow tank, it looks like a little darker windshield washer. We actually had a mix-up at our shop a few months back. The tech thought that the customer put washer fluid in his coolant bottle by accident, and therefore suggested to the customer that we do a coolant flush, and get it all out of there. The customer told us that Honda had worked on it last, and he rarely pops his hood to check anything, since he gets it maintained all the time. So all of us in the shop laugh at the thought of the dealership putting washer-fluid in the coolant. We do the flush, and the customer leaves. Two days later we get a call from Honda, informing us that their coolant is blue, and we were the ones that fucked up.

I don't understand why they would change the color to blue. I'm sure we are not the first shop that has done that. Also, Mercedes for sure, and I think BMW are now coming from the factory with blue coolant.

Just something for all you techs out there to think about.

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

haha yep, exactly what I figured would happen with blue coolant.

That was dumb of Honda to do that.

Now I remember several years ago, going into a Honda dealer to the parts counter, and asking how much the Honda coolant was. The guy said they didn't have it, and that they themselves didn't even use the Honda coolant in their service dept. I was like whatever that's ghey, and just got some Prestone instead.