I have an 05 6sp tl with 96,000 miles, my coolant is really low, I know that by this time I should do a drain. Is it okey to use the advance auto parts 50/50 universal coolant or should I just buy the Acura type 2. Is it normal that by this time the coolant is way below the low line?

 

It is never normal to loose coolant, but your saying that you have done nothing for the 96K? If thats the case do a flush and fill with new coolant and just watch it for a little bit, its prolly nothing. But of all of the Honda/Acura fluids I believe that the coolant is about the only thing I absolutely use. It comes premixed at 50/50 if I remember. I would not skimp on the coolant. its only a few dollars!

 

Thanks. I got the car like a month ago, the guy that had it before never touched the coolant, I am gonna just go to the dealer buy the coolant and see what happens for a couple of days.I am going to do the 100k service soon too. Thanks for you input.

 

I assume your talking about the timing belt? When you do that service your gonna loose alot of that new coolant. There really is no 100K service. It is needed when it pops up on the MID. I would flush and change that coolant ASAP and worry about the major service at a later date.

 

How about just adding the coolant waiting to see what happens. I plan on found the timing belt soon.

 

yeah it's never normal to lose coolant, check the hose maybe it's loose or rusted....that's what happened to my old corolla,

before you do anything major, try this...
start the engine and wait for it to fully warm up, you may start seeing coolant leaking out of one of the hoses, or has someone gas it a bit for you ...this method might save you big bucks....

 

The TL typically leaks from the small rubber hose from the overflow tank to the radiator. Mine leaked when brand new. At first it wasn't enough to see but over time it got some build up from the evaporated coolant. A small ziptie cured the problem. Look right by the radiator cap and see if there's any signs of coolant.

You should really change out the coolant more often than the factory recommends. When I drained mine the first time the second summer I owned it, a ton of sand came out, probably left over from the block and head casting process. Several others have had this sand. I'm glad I got it out when the car had low miles.

If you do a drain and fill of the radiator every few years you never have to do a flush. It's as simple as opening the drain valve and refilling. Takes less than 10 minutes and it's much easier than a flush.

 

Ok thanks everyone.I will check everything and do a drain.

 

same with mine.. my coolant is running really low, and im about 6.5k away from timing belt change.. you think i should just change it out?

 

If it's just low in the overflow reservior, there's nothing wrong with adding a little distilled water to top off. You don't need a 50/50 mix unless you're in a place like Alaska and water cools better than antifreeze anyway. The premix is 50% antifreeze, 50% distilled water anyway.

 

^^^ THIS

i would just fill it to the top level....

you are at 90K miles and pretty soon (105K miles) you will have to do the TB/Water Pump job which requires (not really but I would) a coolant flush

 

Haha I want to slap myself. Turns out that when the car is cold the coolant in way under the minimum line, when the car is hot the coolant is where it always been, between minimum and max. So I was freaking out for no reason. It's beyond me how I have never noticed this. I want to thank everyone that posted, hopefully another clueless guy like me sees this thread and learns how to check their coolant.

 

no necessarily....the coolant cycles so it might be at MAX line when cold and go lower when the engine is hot.....works both ways....

 

It's just simple expansion and contraction. Engine gets hot and burps water out of the system. When it cools, it sucks it back in. In the old days with a drain tube and no tank, the radiator required periodic topping off since it would burn everytime it got hot until the fluid level was low enough.

 

When the car is COLD, remove the radiator cap and check to see if the coolant comes up to the radiator neck.
If it does, put in coolant (or distilled water) up to the "Max" line on the overflow/return tank.
If the coolant level does not go up to the radiator neck, fill the radiator with coolant up to the radiator neck, then put in coolant up to the "Max" line on the overflow/return tank.

Check the overflow tank level when the car is cold for the next couple of days thereafter to make sure there are no leaks.

If there are no leaks, that should tide you over until the "4" timing belt service, when the water pump and all coolant should be changed along with the TB.