Just had to replace my radiator because of a leak the size of Niagara. I was quite astonished to see that most of the honeycomb had corroded away and many of the main tubes were looking distinctly delicate.
Although 12 years old, the car has only done 90k. I strongly suspect that thesalting on the roads done every winter is the culprit. Does this sound right ? How are your roads kept clear ? I know that many areas in US have major problems with snow and ice in the winter.
If I am correct, any ideas about how to protect a radiator from this.

 

It could have corroded from the inside out from contaminated/improperly mixed antifreeze.

Drain and flush the cooling system every 2 or 3 years and refill with 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze. You should probably use distilled water if you want to be real proactive with it.

Keep the car clean, especially during the winter. You want to keep the salt off of the car.

You can buy radiators that are constructed of more resilient materials, like copper, but you will pay through the nose.

Mine just failed (on the coldest day of the season, of course) at 191k and 13 years. It was bound to happen.

 

You've got plenty of company with that salt. I used to think nobody could possibly use more road-salt than Milwaukee. Then I moved to northeast Ohio...

That 'honeycomb' would be the foil material that's in-between the tubes of the radiator, right? There's no anti-freeze in those fins, so THAT corrosion can't be related to the anti-freeze mixture.

I had the same thing happen with the brass radiator inan '89 Saab 900. The fins just crumbled into dust but the radiator didn't leak. So abrass radiator isn't the answer either.

But it's stillimportant toreplace the anti-freezeevery couple years because the anti-corrosion package wears out. Youdon't want corrosion inside the engine. The freezing point is still good (measured by the specific gravity) so checking with a hydrometer can be misleading.

 

What I have done is load on a whole can of spray polish into the guts of the rad which should provide some protection.

 

i agree that you should probably drain the old coolant out and put new coolant back in. replaced a radiator on another car before (not accord) and a radiator is still a relatively expensive part in my opinion. eventually a radiator will wear out, but usually it takes a lot of years and miles.

 

yeah, theres nothing you can do. 12 years is a decent amount of time on a radiator. getting another honda radiator will last another 10-12..possibly, and by then your car is 24 years old!

 

Strangely, many moons ago, I was involved in glycol [antifreeze] production including the stabiliser formulation. Car only bought three months back so no idea about previous owners.
Thing that did strike me was the fact that rad. core was not painted so wide open to corrosion from day 1. Paint being messy, I hoped that wax would be a decent substitute - probably a forelorn hope. By-the-by, did not use O.M. rad. Genuine Honda spares are for rich people only.
Have a nice day, y'all.