SoCalMike <mikein562athotmail@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:_badnaLsjKA0McHfRVn-iw@comcast.com:

> TeGGer® wrote:
>> ...the block holds about a quart. I suppose what you could do is find
>> out the total system capacity, then subtract a quart of water from
>> your dilution formula. That way you'd compensate for the water left
>> in the block from the garden hose.
>
> in the whole scheme of things, if you do a 50/50 mix, a quart shouldnt
> throw it off much. besides, IIRC, 50/50 is the *most* potent coolant
> needs to be. 60water/40coolant should be acceptable.
>


Lets do a bit of arithmetic, using the B18A1's capacities as our reference:

Total capacity for the automatic: 6.9 US quarts.
A 50/50 mix would be 3.45/3.45 water/coolant.

If there is a quart of plain water in the block, and you put in a 50/50
mix, you're actually diluting it thusly:
4.45/2.45 water/coolant. That's a 64/36 mixture, which would be fatal up
here in the winter, as it would only protect down to about zero F. But even
then, the concentration of anti-corrosion additives would not be strong
enough, and you would suffer corrosion more quickly even if the temperature
did not get anywhere near -0F.

If we use the manual's capacities, it gets even worse.
6.4 US quarts total.
3.2/3.2 is 50/50
If a quart of plain water is present, and you fill with 50/50, mixture
would be
4.2/2.2, or 66/34, which is wholly unacceptable.

If you absolutely need to leave that quart of plain water in there, you'd
need to make your new mix 30/70 water/coolant. That would dilute to 50/50
when mixed with the quart of water.

--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/