Coolant level little above Minimum

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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 03:12 PM
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From: Fairfax, VA
Coolant level little above Minimum

The coolant level in my TL is a little above the minimum mark. Should top it off or flush and refill? My dealer said that since my car has 58000 miles on it, it is better to flush it off and refill.. Charge $ 195
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 03:52 PM
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Originally Posted by moodymaverick
The coolant level in my TL is a little above the minimum mark. Should top it of or flush and refill?
Top it off for now.
The flush/replacement is service 5 in the Maintenance Minder-- which probably means @ change of timing belt (service 4) and water pump, usually around 100K miles.

Oh, and this thread should probably be in another section, like the main 3G TL page, rather than here in "Tires, Wheels..."
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 05:51 PM
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Originally Posted by moodymaverick
The coolant level in my TL is a little above the minimum mark. Should top it of or flush and refill? My dealer said that since my car has 58000 miles on it, it is better to flush it off and refill.. Charge $ 195
You can buy a gallon of Honda premix for $20 and do it yourself in 15 minutes. There's a drain valve on the bottom of the radiator that takes no tools to turn. Take the cap off, open the drain, let it all drain out and refill it. The radiator takes about a gallon. This gets about half of the fluid out. Do it again when you do the timing belt at 105,000 and you're good to go.

About refilling, you can top off with distilled water. It's only a few ounces, won't hurt anything by diluting it with a few ounces of water in a 2 gallon system.

I recommend a drain and refill now but I believe the first recommended flush is 105,000 when you do the timing belt.
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Old Jan 17, 2010 | 07:12 PM
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I do it when the timing belt comes along. Main reason why whenever you change the water pump you pretty much drain the cooling system anyway so why not do it then thats how I see it.
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Old Jan 21, 2010 | 10:21 AM
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What about the antifreeze? is it already in the coolant mix?
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Old Jan 21, 2010 | 10:23 AM
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Also, If I decide to top it off, should the level read a little below the max?
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Old Jan 21, 2010 | 12:07 PM
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Originally Posted by moodymaverick
Also, If I decide to top it off, should the level read a little below the max?
I put it right at max when fully hot.

You can run the Honda antifreeze mix or you can top off with distilled water. It really doesn't matter in such a small amount. The water gets cycled everytime the car is heated and cooled. When it gets hot, coolant flows into the tank and when it gets cool, fluid flows out of the tank so it all gets mixed in quickly.
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Old Jan 21, 2010 | 01:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Will Y.
Top it off for now.
The flush/replacement is service 5 in the Maintenance Minder-- which probably means @ change of timing belt (service 4) and water pump, usually around 100K miles.

Oh, and this thread should probably be in another section, like the main 3G TL page, rather than here in "Tires, Wheels..."

Yea, but what is it doing in 1G TL?


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