JJH

iTrader: (1)

Just wondering if there is anything differently that I should do from these directions.

I know some have mentioned that there is a drain bolt on the bottom of the engine block that you can drain all of the coolant so I wasn't sure. I only have 1 gallon of type 2 coolant right now so I will have to pick up another one tomorrow.

I hate cars

Drain and fill the radiator using the valve at the bottom every two to three years. No flush or engine block drain needed....ever. It holds a gallon. Same goes for the power steering. If you drain and fill the reservoir every couple years you never have to do the flush.

The factory's way of doing it is to advertise super long service intervals as a selling point but its much easier to do a partial fluid swap sooner rather than all at once. You're replenishing additives much sooner this way.

JJH

iTrader: (1)

I was also under the impression that it was slightly more than 1 gallon that would be drained via the radiator.

LoveMyTL-S

Doesn't hurt to have more than enough fluid.

I hate cars

One gallon was enough for me. Any topping off can be done with distilled water. A 50-50 mix is very strong for all but the coldest climates. Water cools better than coolant anyway and distilled is a dollar a gallon.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for your expertise, IHC.

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

i remember i drained the entire block and radiator for shits and giggles. that took FOREVER to drain out from the block. then i flushed everything with distilled water and refilled with honda type II coolant.

the old coolant had some sort of sediment/sandy crap in it. i found it after sifting the coolant with a paint filter. idk what it was

I hate cars

That's exactly what mine had. Looked like pure sand. Luckily I did a drain and fill when the car was only 2 years old the first time. It had a ton of sand, probably left over from the casting process. I would hate to think of all of that sand circulating for 10 years if I had followed the manufacturer's recommendations.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Great info IHC... Thanks. I've never touched the coolant. I guess it's about time!

Pat04TL

Thanks IHC. I've been doing the coolant drain-and-fill every 25,000 miles since new on all my vehicles with that same idea in mind, i.e. keep the additives replenished. Easy to do, so I figured what the heck.

One question IHC: Everything I've ever read on here says stick with Honda Type 2 Coolant (which I've done). Is that true or is it more BS from Honda? A better question perhaps: What coolant do you use?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^as long as the coolant is Silicate and Phosphate FREE.

I hate cars

Basically what Justin said above. If you can find another coolant that meets that criteria, it's fine. Coolant is about the only fluid that I stick with OEM. You would probably want to get it from a Honda dealer and save a few bucks for the exact same product. Their powersteering fluid is fine as well, I use Amsoil which is the only other one I've found that meets the viscosity and additive requirements.

nfnsquared

You realize that the Honda Type II factory fill is good for 10 years/120K miles and subsequent Honda Type II fills are good for 5 years/60K miles??

There's a sticker on the hood with this info....

truonghthe

sand? now I must get my radiator drain.

Pat04TL

True enough. I just don't trust any of these manufacturers to that degree. Following their recommendation, it's probably okay. If not, I get tagged for expensive parts out of warranty. Granted what I do is overkill, but for 1 gallon (around $12) every couple years it's cheap piece of mind.

JJH

iTrader: (1)

$12?!?! what!?! Mine was $22.

Pat04TL

Checked receipts in the car. $12.11 was a what I paid 4 yrs ago. Last gallon I bought was a year ago. At Honda with a military discount, it was $15.11. Amazon currently shows $14.95, but of course shipping is painful. So I guess the takeaway is if anyone ever sees a good buy on the internet, let the forum know!

zmwang

try www.curryacuraparts.com

free shipping and it is still higher price, $15.xx.

Angelina Vuckovic

ok guys i have a question... couple of months ago i purchased 06 TL with 146k and it started making that moaning noise when car is cold and recently as its getting colder getting worse so i found out i needed to change the o ring on my power steering pump, (before i go changing the whole pump) so i got the part, more ps fluid from the dealer and also add some coolant last night since it was low on that too... since i didnt have the right tools last night i had friend of mine look if some of his wrenches fit and since he had no clue what i was talking about he changed one of the clamps on the hose of the ps pump but ok... so before i went home from work i opened the hood just to check the situation under there and notice the coolant is almost completely out... Now i know there is a walve that lets out extra coolant out if its overfilled but almost completely? Didnt have any other issues with coolant until now other than being low since i bought it
also what tool exactly can i use to get to the ring because it seem nothing fits unles i take more things off. (video i watched made it look to easy to do)
please help
thanks

00h2itr

Coolant is generally a closed system. If your noticing a lot of loss, I'd check your oil and make sure it doesn't look milky. That would indicate a blown head gasket and oil/water mixing.

Also, does the car smoke at all? Even just a little? Does the exhaust smell "sweet" at all? This would also indicate a head gasket type of issue.

I hope that's not the case since you mentioned this was all of a sudden after some other work. Does the temp ever indicate it gets hot?

ZOMGVTEK

Like most every manufacturer, Honda is trying to run the fluids as long as possible without causing substantial damage. This gives the customer the perception of reduced vehicle maintenance costs, but basically means the fluids are at EOL by the end of the intervals. I feel it's a much better idea, for people who don't mind taking the time, to partially replace fluids before they are useless. It's typically easier, faster, and then the fluids stay relatively fresh all the time.

This way, you would replace what you can easily access, just more frequently than normal, as compared to less frequently doing total replacement. For P/S, brake and clutch fluid you can simply suction the fluid out of the reservoir and pour fresh fluid in. On A/T's you don't need to be concerned about power assisted flushes or repeated drain and fills for total replacement, do a simple drain and fill and you're set. Of course for the coolant this means you can just pull the plug on the radiator and refill. It does not entirely replace a proper brake fluid or clutch fluid exchange as the lines are quite long and have no return path. Still, it's better than what most people do, nothing.

It just turns fluid exchanges into smaller pieces that are performed more frequently. The cost isn't really any higher if you do it yourself. If you take it somewhere for maintenance, following recommended maintenance is fine too. For people who really obsess over the condition of their vehicles fluids, incremental exchanges are the way to go.

I hate cars

Yup, blindly follow the manufacturers recommendations. Maybe your system will be extra clean with all of the sand blasting going on for 10 years.

Angelina Vuckovic

i filled it last night and today a guy changed a "bracket"? on 1 of the hoses and i noticed empty coolant tank before i left that parking lot after i started the car and puddle on the ground... my drive back home was to short to notice the smell but will look for it in the morning
thanks for the reply i apreciate it

Angelina Vuckovic

ohh and temp got to half way between hot and cold when its usualy on cooler quarter of it... but my heat in the car was also on high - heat

Will Y.

10 mm. combo wrench-- the angled box end works perfectly.
A short combo wrench would be even better, to turn without interference from the brackets.
See https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=754586-- there are instructions & photos in the first post for changing out the old O-ring for the new orange O-ring.

That's not good-- could be a bad water pump, cracked coolant overflow tank, cracked radiator or bad hose. Best to check for visible leaks, then pressure test the cap and the radiator if you can't find the leak source.

BTW, do you have paperwork showing a timing belt change before you bought the TL? Does any paperwork show the water pump was also changed? If not, you may be looking at changing the timing belt, water pump, tensioner, etc. (service "4" per the MID, although the water pump and tensioner are usually changed as well).

That's also bad-- the car will usually run cooler when the heater is on, so your car's temp would probably be high if the heater was not operating.

Check for leaks in the cooling system and water pump ASAP.

G/L, and welcome to AZ.

nfnsquared

WTF? Thought you had me on ignore? Get with it dude and put me back on ignore.

Yup, followed the recommendations of those who know far more than a self-proclaimed internet expert and changed it at 120K. I'll do that any day over your worthless hothead proclamations.

You should know better than for me to give a shit what you think, why do you waste your time with your useless drivel?

In the meantime, my car runs fantastic at 130K following all OEM maintenance recommendations.

And please, put me back on ignore. And this time, let's go for 4 years instead of 2. Pretty please.

lusid

Why all the hate? People have different opinions some people follow the book some people like doing consistent maintenance in efforts to prevent further issues down the road.

ZOMGVTEK

Following the recommended maintenance should be fine. If you want to reduce the likelihood that failures can be attributed to fluids, replace them more frequently.

That said, most everyone I know does not change any fluids unless something fails. The manufacturers recommended intervals are way better than that.

I hate cars

You're still on ignore, I'm just clicking on your posts. I don't like ignorant people that talk down to others like yourself so I'm going to have a little fun with you for a few more days.

You have no answer for anything I've posted other than you car runs lol. At least you know enough to not pretend like you know something. For people like you, following manufacturers recommendations is probably best since it's painfully obvious you lack the intelligence to think for yourself. Again, you're following recommendations that the marketing department developed to sell more cars but at least your car runs lol.

sauceja

iTrader: (2)

I have only ever drained the block once in my life of a bunch of Honda vehicles.

When you do the timing belt water pump job you will be draining most of the block when removing water pump.

Drain and refill.

Honda spends the most money out of regular car manufacturers on Research and Development for its fluids. I have used Honda type 2 coolant on all of my vehicles included 2 motorcycles that were water cooled. I firmly believe it is the best coolant on the market.

nfnsquared

FYI, no need to drain the block during the water pump change. I lost less than 1 qt in the process and just added a little fresh Honda Type II when I was done.

Will Y.

You guys seem to have more experience than I do with cars generally-- anything helpful to suggest for new member Angelina with dealing with the loss of coolant as described in yesterday's posts?

I'm still thinking failed water pump or broken reserve/overflow container.

nfnsquared

Knowing where the puddle is forming in relationship to the radiator/engine/firewall will help.

If the tank is just emptying and the level inside the radiator isn't going down (or down by a lot), I'd suspect a bad over flow hose or cracked tank. The overflow hoses are known to go bad.

Also, if the puddle is below the radiator, further evidence to suggest one of the above possibilities.

If the puddle is closer to the firewall, then it's probably something else..

I hate cars

Their coolant is the one fluid I don't deviate from factory, it's a really good fluid. I do add a little distilled water since water cools better than coolant and in a normal climate a 50-50 mix is overkill.

As far as R&D on other fluids, their Z1 was a disaster. It's a very, very cheap base oil that shows excessive oxidation as early as 10,000 miles in some cases. Everything else is ok. I like the PSF with it's extra zinc and slightly higher viscosity but I went one up and use a synthetic with the same qualities. Where I don't agree with Honda is some of the change intervals if the longest possible component life is your goal.

sauceja

iTrader: (2)

Never said I drained the block during a water pump change. Just said that I have done it that way once.

I let the block drain via no water pump when I change the water pump. That is the most I drain it. Everything else is drain and refill. I usually do it at around 50k or whenever I have nothing else to fix/replace on my cars I may do it then.

Didn't say all their fluids were success lol. But for the sake of they make an economical car that by following their recommendations most sheeple will have a lasting car.

Car enthusiasts such as ourselves are going to exceed the recommendations and change fluids / items sooner. At least follow the harsh driving conditions changes.

But the type II coolant is bombdiggity.

nfnsquared

Neither did I

VegasMike007

Was wondering if you've heard of this and what you think of it...