'02 CR-V Unknown coolant

[jagdriver727]

Someone recently gave me a one-owner 2002 Honda CR-V with 160k on the clock, it has the 2.4 i-VTEC and a 5-speed manual, is AWD. Neat little car.

The PO had been bringing it to my shop for maintenance since it had about 50k on it. We try to be fairly by-the-book as far as fluids used and at what intervals, but...
I popped the cap off the coolant overflow tank, to see a green-ish antifreeze inside. It calls for Honda Blue.

I checked with the guys around the shop, and nobody will admit to ever having changed the coolant. I did not personally do most of the work on the car, maybe an oil change here or there, I have never touched the cooling system.

It may have been changed or flushed at some point before I ever saw the car. 50k seems a short change for factory coolant, but it is possible.

So what would the BITOG community do? I was thinking a couple drain/fills with Zerex Asian Blue or something similar.

 

[CharBaby]

Yes, bring the car/engine/tranny to the point that "YOU" know what is in everything(oil, tranny, coolant, P/S, diffs & tc if AWD).

 

[atikovi]

Drain, fill with distilled water, drive 10-15 min with heater on max. Repeat 5 times. Drain, fill with blue Honda coolant plus a quart of their Extreme Temperature coolant.

 

[jayjr1105]

Zerex Asian Blue is fine. I just flushed with Peak Asian Blue in my Odyssey.

Do a complete flush with distilled water and a coolant flush. Maybe run it with the thermostat removed and make sure heater is on.

 

[GSCJR]

Honda was using green coolant back in '02.

 

[jayjr1105]

Florescent green though? There is the normal looking green stuff that was used before the blue. I don't think OP said if it was the bright fluorescent green or darker green old asian formula

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Originally Posted by GSCJR
Honda was using green coolant back in '02.


I don't think that's true. I had a 2001 Civic that definitely had blue in it.

 

[Sayjac]

Having owned an 01 Civic since new, still in extended family, it used/uses Honda Type 2 Blue. Not knowing what it is, I'd want the 'green' AF out too. Once had a dealer use original green AS with a head gasket job. Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper and I got it out. Did d&fs using Type 2 the dealer gave me as compensation.

Zerex/Valvoline Asian Vehicle blue a good choice. If you've got Napa store nearby they have it on sale this month for ~$11/gal. Since it's a premix, you'll either have to find block drain(s) or do some radiator d&fs over a time frame of your choice. No idea about crv, but Civic is/was above oil filter and a pita to access. After a distilled flush series I did latter and checked concentration with Chaslyn 5 ball AF tester. As system is relatively small volume, couple gallons max all needed to get to 50%.

 

[deoxy4]

I use this stuff which is a concentrate and equivalent to Honda OEM. At $12/gallon it was a good deal at PEP Boys. Capacity for the 2.4L engine should be 1.9 gallon. 1 gallon of the concentrate and .9 gallon of distilled water should do it.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/foru...alternative-to-honda-coolant#Post4836914

 

[Sayjac]

PB OEM brand Asian an excellent option especially because it comes in a concentrate. That said at least in this area, becoming increasingly difficult to find at PB stores, many don't carry it. 'Appears' PB not restocking as supply dwindles. Certainly worth checking some local stores online to see if it's available.

 

[jagdriver727]

Thank you all for the input.
Originally Posted by jayjr1105
I don't think OP said if it was the bright fluorescent green or darker green old asian formula

The coolant in the car was not fluorescent green, it was a darker green, like what you'd expect to seen in an older Asian application.
After looking into it, I'm thinking it's quite possible the car came from the factory with an older honda green coolant. If this was the case, I've been told that no harm would be done by mixing the green and blue coolants.

I did a drain/fill with Zerex/Valvoline Asian Blue, $12/gal at Walmart. It took about 1.5 gallons after bleeding the system and driving 400 miles. I drained the radiator and block, in case anyone is wondering the block drain on the 2.4 is on the rear of the engine, near the oil filter.

The system capacity is 1.9 gal, and the manual says to only use Type 2. Since I have 1.5 gallons of fresh coolant in there already, I'm planning to do one more drain/fill (just the radiator this time) in a couple weeks, bleed the system, top it off, and call it good