Best coolant for 2005 4 cylinder Honda Accord

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My accord is about to reach 190,000 km (118,000 miles) and still running on the original coolant.

I have not done the job myself in the past, but am planning to attempt it during the holidays.

What is the best coolant for my vehicle? Would you recommend additives like Purple Ice or something similar?

I purchased a Prestone kit of fittings for coolant flushing - is this the reccomended route to go?
 
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A year ago I bought some Z1 ATF.

That is the first time I purchased OEM fluids.

I will no longer purchase OEM ATF,PSF,Motor OIL, Brake fluid,or washer fluid.

I will purchase Honda Type 2 Long Life Blue though.

The only plausible alternative is Zerex for Asian Vehicles.

I would stick with oem. Borate and silicate free like Zerex but it has a proprietary conditioner/lubricant that seems to keep the water pump like new. Others just don't seem to work as well from anecdotal evidence.No hard data but that seems to be the case.

Purple Ice and Water Wetter works best with just water.

I think Lubegard Kool-It is best if you want to combine it with coolant. Like others it only reduces temps about 6-7 degrees. Unlike others it does not foam up and get crusty in your resovoir.

Prestone PSF for Honda Acura
Motul 5.1 Brake Fluid
Pennzoil Platinum Motor Oil
Red Line D4 for next ATF change.

When I flush my radiator at 100k miles I will use Honda Type 2 Long Life Blue.

I added Lubegard Kool-It to my factory fill coolant for the heck of it.
 
I agree with this. I think you should use Honda Type 2 but Zerex Asian should be fine too. I think both are premix though. So you won't be able to flush with them.You could use Peak Global Life and it's available in concentrate. It's been debated over a lot here, but it is not the recommend coolant and is somewhat unproven.

I would get the type 2 or Zerex Asian and open the block drain if you can safely jack up the car. Otherwise you will have to do at least 2 or 3 warm ups and radiator drains to get msot of the old out. I personally think this will take more time and effort and more anti-freeze than just draining the block but it's your call.
 
All things being equal, Type 2 is the way to go. What stinks is it comes primarily in a 50/50 premix.* So, unless you can find, access/reach and remove the block drain(s) you will be out of luck to do a total flush and fill and acheive at least a 50% concentration ( without multiple flushes and much coolant waste).

When I had my timing belt done that's when mine was replaced with the Type 2. So, next time I will face a similar situation to you.

You could do a radiator drain and refill, with the Type 2, but that only removes part of the old coolant. So, I have no ideal answer unless you can go the block drain route, which quite frankly, is not practical for many.

And, Zerex AF has done no favors here by only offering a premix, as a concentrate would be an option here.

* Honda does make a concentrate avaialble at Bernardi Parts. But, it costs~$6.50 a quart before shipping. Too steep for me, at ~$26 a gallon.

Good luck.
 
When Peak Global Lifetime was still around I used that in my Civic. No issues over the last 125k, car has 204k on it. I bought a couple gallons of it (full strength) and will use it on the CR-V at 50k in about 3 months.
 
IMO, I agree Peak GL or clone (Peak PL@ PB), would be a viable option. The dang full strength in PGL is now getting harder to find than gold. Appropriate I guess, since the bottle color is gold.
 
Originally Posted By: sayjac
IMO, I agree Peak GL or clone (Peak PL@ PB), would be a viable option. The dang full strength in PGL is now getting harder to find than gold. Appropriate I guess, since the bottle color is gold.


It's true.. The 50/50 PGL is easy enough to find but for some reason the full strength is getting to be nearly impossible to find.
I've used PGL in my 2001 Accord for years with no problem at all. Since I will change the water pump @ 90 to 100K (on Hondas with timing BELTS) I am becoming less concerned about the coolant I use. I would use Prestone AMM if stuck because the coolant doesn't come in contact with i/m gasket (so the 2-EHA can't do its thing).
 
Use Honda Blue 50/50. Good luck with the block drain. The first coolant flush is at 110,000 miles, thereafter around 60,000 miles because you only do a 50% drain and replacement.

Prestone kit is only good if you can find concentrate coolant. Since you flush with water, you must add concentrate to make up difference.
 
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Originally Posted By: sayjac

* Honda does make a concentrate avaialble at Bernardi Parts. But, it costs~$6.50 a quart before shipping. Too steep for me, at ~$26 a gallon.

Good luck.




I thought type 2 was at least twice that price, but I never really priced it. If it's $6.50 and shipping isn't too bad it might be a better deal than Zerex Asian premix.

Originally Posted By: Corvette Ownner
Prestone kit is only good if you can find concentrate coolant. Since you flush with water, you must add concentrate to make up difference.



In my T-flush thread I wondered if one could leave the T-flushes cap off and pour in premix fast enough to displace most all of the water? One might need to pour in 1.5 times the capacity in to get most all off the diluted coolant out. It probably wouldn't work good enough without using concentrate though.
 
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Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Originally Posted By: sayjac

* Honda does make a concentrate avaialble at Bernardi Parts. But, it costs~$6.50 a quart before shipping. Too steep for me, at ~$26 a gallon.
Good luck.
I thought type 2 was at least twice that price, but I never really priced it. If it's $6.50 and shipping isn't too bad it might be a better deal than Zerex Asian premix.


That's ~$6.50 a quart before shipping for the concentrate. Works out to about~ $26 a gallon jug before shipping. Again, too steep for me. I have no idea what the Zerex premix goes for. I believe one can obtain the Type 2 premix from a 'reasonable' dealer for ~$11-$12. I'd take that before the Zerex if close in price.
 
Well all of the Asian coolant is too expensive IMO but the $6.50/qt concentrate is equivalent to about $13/gal premixed and gives you more versatility. I figured even Zerex Asian premix is about $13 gal with less versatility. I figure a dealer would want more for the type 2 premix. If you can get type 2 premix from a dealer cheaper than Zerex premix then who wouldn't go with the type 2.
 
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I guess when you look at it compared to the premix, but still looking at from the gallon cost, plus I bet shipping of the liquid is high.

Zerex could really do some businees if they sold a full strength Asian Formula at a reasonable price.

Im my area there is a reasonable Honda dealer in a small town that I usually call for a price and then get the Honda dealer closer to me to match. IIRC, the Type 2 was in the ~$12 range. But, that was awhile ago.

Again, lack of full strength makes the job a more of a pain.
 
If you want to keep the car, go with honda coolant. If it looks good and you get good heat, no reason necessarily to backflush, IMO.

If I was going to go through the trouble of flushing, Id do it right with a degreaser and then a citric acid flush.

Honda makes weak, low quality radiators, IMO, and so Id want to be using the right chemistry in there.
 
Yeah the price and no concentrate available or at least not for under $26/gal equiv. is unreasonable. I'd be use it in my GM vehicles if it weren't so overpriced.
 
Well that's true for an Asian vehicle owner, but since the OP's question has already been answer sayjac and I were taking it a little off-topic. Type 2 or asian formula isn't OE coolant for GM Dexcool or G-05 but I think it's a better coolant. Maybe even Peak Global is too.
 
Originally Posted By: Corvette Owner
The first coolant flush is at 110,000 miles, thereafter around 60,000 miles because you only do a 50% drain and replacement.
Just a question on this comment. Are you saying that Honda expects you only to be able to drain and refill the radiator with premix, so that's why they shorten the service interval??

Nissan (others I suspect) also shortens the subsequent maintenance intervals, but I don't think that's the reason.

It would be nice if that were true, but I am somewhat skeptical. FWIW, I did go just about ~110k with the OE coolant in an 01 Civic, changed during timing belt service, two summers ago. Radiator looked clean.
 
Originally Posted By: rszappa1
Its not like you change your coolant every other month... stick with OEM on this one...


+1
 
Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
If anyone find a diagram w/the 2.4 block drain, post it here.

TIA.


Block drain is directly under oil filter on my 1999 2.4 and takes 19mm socket for removal. Radiator bleeder valve is 12mm
 
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