Honda Car Forum

SoCalMike <mikein562athotmail@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<4tqIc.38262$WX.6166@attbi_s51>...
> JM wrote:
> > I killed 3 Integra water pumps with green Prestone in 1991 or
> > thereabouts. One failed in a mere 6 weeks. Certain death. Isn't it
> > interesting that Prestone has never admitted the problem. Can you say
> > "class action."
>
> just curious... were they all OEM honda pumps? or aftermarket? or rebuilts?
> >
> > On the other hand, I changed my 1996 I30t to Dexcool at 37,000 miles.
> > Pump seal failed at 93,000. Not an outstanding life, and not what I
> > hoped for, but not terrible. Suffice to say that I do not believe
> > that Dexcool will "extend" pump life, although this is Texaco's
> > position.
>
> i have never used the green stuff in any of my japanese vehicles. no
> probs with the orange stuff, everything looks nice and shiny inside.
> >
> > Never the less, I would not use anything other than genuine Honda
> > coolant in a Honda product. Partially because I learned from my
> > Integra experience just how easy it is to screw up a Honda pump. It
> > isn't worth a few extra bucks to go experimenting.
>
> especially if the specs call for silicate and phosphate free coolant
> >
> > JM

All OEM. Both cars were very low mileage & getting their first
coolant change.

One pump was even installed by Acura under warranty after the first
pump died. Then in short order, it started leaking too... In 1992
even Acura didn't know not to use the Prestone that I brought them (I
didn't want to mix coolants, so I brought it.) Their Techline people
in California finally figured out what was going on. Acura ate 3 pump
replacements under warranty. They probably didn't have to.

JM

||The manual has a paragraph giving a layperson's description of the aluminum
||engine and its cooling chemistry needs. Then it says, "[U]se only a Honda
||**RECOMMENDED** anti-freeze coolant. CHECK WITH YOUR AUTHORIZED HONDA DEALER."

The closest thing to a universal coolant is G-05. G-05 was originally devloped
as a long-term coolant for big fleets. It's getting to be commonly available.
It is compatible with virtually all cooling systems, including Honda an VW,
which also is persnickety about coolant.


||One more anecdote on this: A stroke of luck last year gave me an elderly
||gentleman neighbor who is a serious classic car enthusiast. Last week he told
me one of his buddies does not change the synthetic oil in his car more often
than
||30k miles (and some time limit). My neighbor is trying this frequency on his
||fairly new SUV. He has no concerns. The guy's pretty bright, cautious, and
||fastidious in his garage and with his several cars, so I have stored this in
my
||anecdote database.

There is a website where a guy is running Mobil 1 in a Camaro Z28 and having the
oil lab-tested at regular intervals. Last I looked the oil was at about 12K
miles and just starting to show signs of declining pretection.
You can find the link from www.Bobistheoilguy.com, which is a good education on
all things fluid and automotive.
Texas Parts Guy

"Rex B" <NOSPAMrex@REMOVEtxol.net> wrote
> There is a website where a guy is running Mobil 1 in a Camaro Z28 and having
the
> oil lab-tested at regular intervals. Last I looked the oil was at about 12K
> miles and just starting to show signs of declining pretection.
> You can find the link from www.Bobistheoilguy.com, which is a good education
on
> all things fluid and automotive.

Gotta love a site by a guy who calls himself, "Bob the Oil Guy." :-)

Do you know where exactly on the site this one-car study is being reported? Not
that I would discount it because it's for only one car. I would indeed like to
see what the author says on this.

I skimmed the site but didn't see it.

Rex B wrote:

> ||The manual has a paragraph giving a layperson's description of the aluminum
> ||engine and its cooling chemistry needs. Then it says, "[U]se only a Honda
> ||**RECOMMENDED** anti-freeze coolant. CHECK WITH YOUR AUTHORIZED HONDA DEALER."
>
> The closest thing to a universal coolant is G-05. G-05 was originally devloped
> as a long-term coolant for big fleets. It's getting to be commonly available.
> It is compatible with virtually all cooling systems, including Honda an VW,
> which also is persnickety about coolant.

However - G-05 is a low-silicate coolant. The one thing that Honda
has emphasized in their coolant sales literature is that silicates
are to be avoided.

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 13:58:32 GMT, Milleron <millerdot90@SPAMlessosu.edu>
wrote:

>On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 01:42:23 -0400, George Macdonald
><fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote:
>
>>>Also note that, when I converted from the "green" to Dexcool, I went
>>>through about 5 gallons of distilled water to thoroughly flush out the
>>>old prior to adding any Dexcool, and I only use distilled water in the
>>>50/50 Dexcool/water mix.
>>
>>As you noted above, there is "bother" with the "massive flush routine" -
>>I'd rather just pay the $12. or so for the Honda coolant which I know
>>works.
>
>Question: would switching from Honda coolant (as opposed to the
>"green stuff") to Dexcool require the "massive flush routine?"

I don;t know enough about the chemistry of the additives in either and I'd
think Honda's make-up would be hard to detrermine exactly anyway, since it
is sold as propietary. Without being sure one way or the other I'd be
tempted to flush.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??