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I read every post but I guess I missed it. How do we bleed the system after we fill up the system with fresh coolant?
It's in post #9, in the fsm screenshots posted by Ron. And mentioned in post #11 as well. It's pretty easy really. & IMO our cars (or Hondas in general) do a good job of burping themselves when you follow the instructions given. Compared to some other cars I've changed fluid & t-stats on anyway.
Personally, I'd go with the Honda coolant- it's sold by the quart at Honda MC dealers as well, so you don't need a full gallon of the stuff. It's blue as is the car's coolant (is silicate free as well).
Thanks, will be picking up one later today. I Think its around $20-$25 per gallon.
Couldn't you just place a rubber plug over the radiator fill cap, cut a hole in the plug, and blow the rest out with compressed air?
I know it's an old post, but deserves an answer.
NO do not put compressed air into your rad/block!!!
You won't be able to control the pressure in the system and may wreck your rad and head gaskets, just to name a few components.
A vacuum is ok for evacuating air from the system and you won't wreck anything as you won't be able to create too much negative pressure.
When i drain the radiator and block i need to clean both to make sure all the old coolan its out, so i bought a prestone flush & cleaner for the radiator, after i drain both i need to fill the radiator with prestone and distille water and then drain both (radiator & block) again? I heard you need to fill and drain about 3 times to get all the old coolan out.
When i drain the radiator and block i need to clean both to make sure all the old coolan its out, so i bought a prestone flush & cleaner for the radiator, after i drain both i need to fill the radiator with prestone and distille water and then drain both (radiator & block) again? I heard you need to fill and drain about 3 times to get all the old coolan out.
Yes you need to get all the flush/cleaner out...
Draining/Filling 3 times, is typically done when you leave the thermostat in there, becuase when it closes, it traps coolant in the engine. That's the purpose of opening the engine block plug, so that you drain both sides of the water pump. With that being the case, I don't see why you should drain/fill the radiator more than once.
Draining/Filling 3 times, is typically done when you leave the thermostat in there, becuase when it closes, it traps coolant in the engine. That's the purpose of opening the engine block plug, so that you drain both sides of the water pump. With that being the case, I don't see why you should drain/fill the radiator more than once.
So i could do the 3x drain/fill without opening the engine block or is recommende to open it? Or i could do the 3x drain/fill and then open the engine block to let everything out
So i could do the 3x drain/fill without opening the engine block or is recommende to open it? Or i could do the 3x drain/fill and then open the engine block to let everything out
While you could elect to do the 3x thing without opening the engine block, it seriously only takes like a few minutes to use the engine block drain, so in the end, it'll actually be way easier faster to use the engine block drain, then to bother with 3x drain/fill. Plus, it'll be better to drain it the right way, because even with a 3x drain/fill, if you don't open up the engine block drain, you'll still have a small amount of cleaner/flush diluted in the system.
While you could elect to do the 3x thing without opening the engine block, it seriously only takes like a few minutes to use the engine block drain, so in the end, it'll actually be way easier faster to use the engine block drain, then to bother with 3x drain/fill. Plus, it'll be better to drain it the right way, because even with a 3x drain/fill, if you don't open up the engine block drain, you'll still have a small amount of cleaner/flush diluted in the system.
I figured I would add to this thread since the pictures weren't working. I finally did the coolant drain for the block and the radiator. I managed to get some pictures. I had a hard time first locating the bolt to drain the coolant from the block. The best way to explain it is it up and behind the oil filter. I did manage to get a long 12mm socket with a breaker bar on the bolt to crack it open. Then attached the 1/4 clear tubbing to the nipple. I then used a small 12mm wrench to open the valve and close it when it drained. There is a pigtail above the oil filter that you can disconnect to give you a little more clearance. Hope this helps anyone.
A rare glimpse of the engine block coolant drain plug
Been thinking about tackling this drain/refill and this thread has been great. Since many of the images in the earlier posts are no longer viewable, thought I'd add a couple that might help. The first is from the service manual showing where the drain plug is hiding but it gives you the impression that it's just sticking out for all to see (it's not!). The latter is a screen shot of a video from my reaching behind the front passenger tire and sticking my phone into that spot where the service manual shows. You can clearly see the drain plug with nipple in the upper left.
When I'm ready to do this, I'll remove the front passenger wheel and try to get to it. sk8board{Pete} in post #65 said that it's much easier if you remove the strut bar & tps sensor bracket, but since I'm not 100% certain what those are, I'll go the conventional route. If someone wants to point out those two things, that would be great.
One last question: if I'm going to the trouble of doing this myself, should I change the thermostat while I'm at it? Mine is an '05 with 130K miles on it.
From the service manual Screenshot from the location shown in the service manual. It's there on the upper left
Been thinking about tackling this drain/refill and this thread has been great. Since many of the images in the earlier posts are no longer viewable, thought I'd add a couple that might help. The first is from the service manual showing where the drain plug is hiding but it gives you the impression that it's just sticking out for all to see (it's not!). The latter is a screen shot of a video from my reaching behind the front passenger tire and sticking my phone into that spot where the service manual shows. You can clearly see the drain plug with nipple in the upper left.
When I'm ready to do this, I'll remove the front passenger wheel and try to get to it. sk8board{Pete} in post #65 said that it's much easier if you remove the strut bar & tps sensor bracket, but since I'm not 100% certain what those are, I'll go the conventional route. If someone wants to point out those two things, that would be great.
One last question: if I'm going to the trouble of doing this myself, should I change the thermostat while I'm at it? Mine is an '05 with 130K miles on it.
Thanks for the pics
AT 130K, you should have done the timing belt water pump at ~105K already so the thermostat should only be about 20-30K miles old. Prob not necessary.
The strut car is up top in the engine bay connecting the two strut towers
I actually had the timing belt done at 95K since I live in Arizona and didn't want to risk it. Given its location, wonder why strut bar removal would make draining the block any easier? Thx again!
Bumping an old, but great thread... Can anyone provide the service manual's instructions for burping our system again. Many of the images have gone away.
Or can someone just explain very briefly as to the process for our 3gs specifically?
Bumping an old, but great thread... Can anyone provide the service manual's instructions for burping our system again. Many of the images have gone away.
Or can someone just explain very briefly as to the process for our 3gs specifically?
01-23-2014, 11:48 PM
