My '04 civic with 37,000 miles has the original antifreeze which is Green. What would be a good choice for this car? Can I use Advance Auto's 50/50 for all vehicles/all colors? The owners manual says to change every 10 years/100,000 miles but that seems too long. It says to use Silicate free coolant.
04 civic antifreeze
- Thread starter Jeepster_nut
- Start date
- Status
Something doesn't sound right here. Honda long-life, high phosphate/silicate-free antifreeze is dyed blue, not green. Are you, A) partially color insensitive, B) the original owner of that car or, C) could the dealership or your service shop have changed the coolant out or added makeup coolant during a routine service visit? Check the color again - under strong, direct sunlight and with someone else along for additional confirmation.
Ray,
I believe that the factory fill antifreeze in my '02 Accord is green as well. The two replacement gallons I bought, shortly after new car purchase, are also green unless I've just had a brain #@$%!. I'll check tonight when I get home.
Jeepster_nut,
In my '02 Accord, the manual says that is the change interval for initial fill. All changes after that are on a 5-year/60,000 mile interval. It may not be that way by the '04 Civic, but you might want to take a peak at the manual a little closer to verify.
I believe that the factory fill antifreeze in my '02 Accord is green as well. The two replacement gallons I bought, shortly after new car purchase, are also green unless I've just had a brain #@$%!. I'll check tonight when I get home.
Jeepster_nut,
In my '02 Accord, the manual says that is the change interval for initial fill. All changes after that are on a 5-year/60,000 mile interval. It may not be that way by the '04 Civic, but you might want to take a peak at the manual a little closer to verify.
Thanks for responding. I'll belay my concerns, then, unless someone else chimes in with contrary info about Honda antifreeze. Perhaps I confused the color issue with that of Nissan antifreeze?
The Type II (pre-mixed) Honda coolant from the dealer is blue. Several years ago, it was a dark green, but it's been blue now for at least a couple of years. Not sure what the color of factory fill is.
Factory fill on our '04 Accord is green in color.
Mine was green in my 2001 Civic. I used Peak Global Lifetime as a replacement at 85k. 10k later, no problems at all. I plan on another 50k before changing again.
Seems the color perception is quite subjective: to decribe the color of Honda Longlife II that is available in Europe I would use Mazda6 Pantom/Haiti Blue . At some light and angle it's quite similar to Honda coolant. Just, may be, the coolant is slightly more greenish.
In fact it does not matter what color prevails: blue or green. The most important for me is type: Honda Longlife II .
In fact it does not matter what color prevails: blue or green. The most important for me is type: Honda Longlife II .
I looked with a bright light and it is green. So should I be using the new Honda blue or can I get away with long life "universal" 50/50 from Advance auto? Benj, you are correct that the initial fill is 10/100k, thereafter is 5/60,000
Factory fill is 10yr/120k and is GREEN.
SERVICE fill is BLUE and must be replaced every 5-yr/60k.
The reason why they have two different colors is to distinguish which fill the car has.
For you, just use Type II if you are paranoid or use Prestone All Makes All Models. I just picked up two gallons and Wallymart for a little over $6/gal after rebate.
SERVICE fill is BLUE and must be replaced every 5-yr/60k.
The reason why they have two different colors is to distinguish which fill the car has.
For you, just use Type II if you are paranoid or use Prestone All Makes All Models. I just picked up two gallons and Wallymart for a little over $6/gal after rebate.
Factory fill in my 05 Civic is blue, Type II. Manual says it's good for 120K/10years then 60k/5 years after that...
but they also claim manual and auto transmission fluids are good for 120k miles.(60K severe service) Maybe the coolant will make it but we know Honda MTF is beat up long before that. I read somewhere online...(not in the manual anywhere) that the reason for the subsequent 60k mile changes on the coolant is because it is just a drain and fill, not a flush, so only about half the coolant is replaced. I can't verify this as fact but it sounds reasonable.
but they also claim manual and auto transmission fluids are good for 120k miles.(60K severe service) Maybe the coolant will make it but we know Honda MTF is beat up long before that. I read somewhere online...(not in the manual anywhere) that the reason for the subsequent 60k mile changes on the coolant is because it is just a drain and fill, not a flush, so only about half the coolant is replaced. I can't verify this as fact but it sounds reasonable.
Coolant is so cheap, why wait so long to change it.
I changed the coolant in my mom's 2001 Honda with G-05, but she only drives 5K miles per year.
I changed the coolant in my mom's 2001 Honda with G-05, but she only drives 5K miles per year.
I bought my 2 gallons of Type II on Jun-5-2004 and it is green. I wonder when they changed the service fill color?
Factory fill in my 03 Civic is green.
This is directly from the July 2004 edition of Honda ServiceNews:
If you’re doing a PDI on a new Honda model,
don’t be surprised if you see blue fluid in the
radiator and in the reserve tank. It’s not
windshield washer fluid or minty-fresh
mouthwash. It’s Honda’s latest Long Life
Antifreeze/Coolant Type 2, and it’s now the
factory-fill.
This new coolant is exactly the same stuff that’s
been the factory-fill in all ’01 and later Honda
models, only now it’s dark blue instead of green
so it’s easy to tell apart from the earlier Type 1
coolant. It’s completely compatible with the
familiar green Type 2 coolant, so there’s no
problem if you mix them.
If you’re doing a PDI on a new Honda model,
don’t be surprised if you see blue fluid in the
radiator and in the reserve tank. It’s not
windshield washer fluid or minty-fresh
mouthwash. It’s Honda’s latest Long Life
Antifreeze/Coolant Type 2, and it’s now the
factory-fill.
This new coolant is exactly the same stuff that’s
been the factory-fill in all ’01 and later Honda
models, only now it’s dark blue instead of green
so it’s easy to tell apart from the earlier Type 1
coolant. It’s completely compatible with the
familiar green Type 2 coolant, so there’s no
problem if you mix them.
I have an '04 civic as well with around 25K on it. Even though the manual says to change it at 10 yrs / 100K miles, would it be wise to change it out at around 50K or would doing so before the recommended interval be overkill?
Merry Christmas everyone,
DS
Merry Christmas everyone,
DS
DS,
I would go ahead and have a drain/refill done. I just had it done last week on my '04 Accord with 40k miles. I have my vehicles serviced at Honda East on Beechmont (I see you're from Cincinnati too) and it was like $55, but you could get this done anywhere. If you're going to do it yourself or take it to a non-dealership service shop, I would recommend that you use only the Honda Type 2 Long-Life coolant. HTH
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE @ BITOG!
I would go ahead and have a drain/refill done. I just had it done last week on my '04 Accord with 40k miles. I have my vehicles serviced at Honda East on Beechmont (I see you're from Cincinnati too) and it was like $55, but you could get this done anywhere. If you're going to do it yourself or take it to a non-dealership service shop, I would recommend that you use only the Honda Type 2 Long-Life coolant. HTH
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE @ BITOG!
desmonsm,
Thanks. I'm not too far from where you live. My family and I live over in the new subdivision in Bond Hill.
I have taken our cars (my wife drives an accord) over to Superior honda and gotten great service over there.
Cheers,
DS
Thanks. I'm not too far from where you live. My family and I live over in the new subdivision in Bond Hill.
I have taken our cars (my wife drives an accord) over to Superior honda and gotten great service over there.
Cheers,
DS
My Ex has a 2004 Civic 4 door, it's blue. My cousin's 97 Accord just got serviced in Danvers Ma. and it's blue from the dealer. So, I got curious and called my sis, 2005 Accord, and yep! Blue. My girlie's sister's hubby says his wife's 04 Accord has the wrong color coolant-blue- and I told him it's fine.
RayH, I'm coming up blue all over, factory AND from the Stealer. All but one are sub-40K vehicles that haven't had the coolant swapped yet. I got curious about this because friend with a 3 Y.O. Tahoe went from DexCool orange from the factory to Prestone Green fram a GM dealer's service in Northern Va. Tahoe-guy was asking me about it cause he and I have discussed this stuff before, he's thinking HE got the wrong stuff.
So after my Honda-poll,, all the Honda-owners in my life are True-Blue (in the coolant department anyway).
Any chance, Ray that different plants use different stuff? Then, of course, next question is, the green these folks here are seeing, is it phosphated? Or Low-Silicate/OAT?
RayH, I'm coming up blue all over, factory AND from the Stealer. All but one are sub-40K vehicles that haven't had the coolant swapped yet. I got curious about this because friend with a 3 Y.O. Tahoe went from DexCool orange from the factory to Prestone Green fram a GM dealer's service in Northern Va. Tahoe-guy was asking me about it cause he and I have discussed this stuff before, he's thinking HE got the wrong stuff.
So after my Honda-poll,, all the Honda-owners in my life are True-Blue (in the coolant department anyway).
Any chance, Ray that different plants use different stuff? Then, of course, next question is, the green these folks here are seeing, is it phosphated? Or Low-Silicate/OAT?
- Status