Good day all,

Thinking about changing the antifreeze on my 97 Accord, SE, 2.2 liter before winter.

It was done by a shop 3 years/24K miles ago.

The accord manual I have mentions to use only Honda antifreeze, but I don't know how important that really is, and if other types at the local auto parts store are just as good.

Any ideas on what to use, and if 3 years and 24k miles is a good time for a change out.

Thanks!

 

your standard 50/50 green coolant

 

Have a 95 and it says two years or thirty thousand miles. Coolant breaks down over time. I like Honda stuff is there a difference who knows. Not sure this means anything but it's been two years and am due for a flush. Lately the cooling fan has been turning on after the car has been off for thirty seconds to a minute, happened more than once. The only thing is the oil is at about twelve thousand miles and will be changing it soon. The reason am saying this is the oil is not dissipating heat as well as it should. Not sure if it's the oil or the coolant or both.

 

You mentioned Accord manual, it should be in there how often to change it.

 

I use the coolant type Zerex recommends. If you Google "Zerex Coolant Application Chart" you will see they recommend Dexcool for the '97. I would use that or OEM.

My radiator shop guy says to change coolant every three years and not to worry about power flushing or anything like that.

Roy

 

All coolant is ethene glycol. It's the anti-corrosion packages that are different. And certain ones don't play nice with each other. So if you're not sure what's in there now, it's best to thoroughly rinse out the system so there's none of the old stuff left behind.

DexCool is notorious for that, so if you change to that I'd rinse it very thoroughly.

 

Thanks all for some great info!

Take care and good luck,

JM

 

When you buy coolant it's either pre-diluted or concentrate; if you buy the latter, dilute it with distilled water.
Not tap water, not spring water; distilled water eliminates scale formation (probability) because there are no scale forming chemicals in distilled.
Specifically no calcium.

Distilled costs $1 / gallon, any grocery store.

 

don't by the 50/50 pre mixed ,,,,,by the full strenght universal coolant and mix it yourself......thus you buy one gallon and make 2 gallons ,, saves you money ,, good idea to mix with distilled water

 

Another reason not to buy pre-mixed....

If you rinse your cooling system there will be 1 or 2 quarts of clear water left behind when you drain. Even with the block-drain, you can't get it ALL out. So pour in enough concentrate for the water-capacity in the specs. Then you'll find you need to add less water than you think. That's the excess water left behind when you drain.