I was reading the manual for my honda accord today and I noticed I says to use only Honda, well, pretty much everything except wiper fluid. It said if I were to use anything other than Honda engine coolant, power steering fluid, brake/clutch fluid, etc that these could cause corrosion and or damage. Is this true or is it just BS to get people to buy their OEM fluids? Has anyone here experienced problems using aftermarket fluids over OEM in a honda accord?
Honda OEM fluids
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You will definitely want to go with Honda power steering fluid or at least an aftermarket brand designed for Honda's. I just think it is easy to purchase the Honda brand.
From reading the Honda newsgroup, Honda coolant appears to be very good, but in my Acura I ran the Prestone 5/150 (orange) with distilled water and didn't have any issues.
For brake fluid, I use Castrol. For motor oil, I used Mobil 1.
I traded the Integra at about 95,000 miles, but it was running great.
From reading the Honda newsgroup, Honda coolant appears to be very good, but in my Acura I ran the Prestone 5/150 (orange) with distilled water and didn't have any issues.
For brake fluid, I use Castrol. For motor oil, I used Mobil 1.
I traded the Integra at about 95,000 miles, but it was running great.
I've only owned Hondas (now drive a 2001 Acura Integra Type-R), and here's pretty much the scoop:
Honda PS Fluid: Must use, or at least one specifically formulated for Hondas. Honda PS fluid is NOT the ATF equivalent that most other companies use.
Honda ATF Fluid (ATF-Z1): Use this, Honda has a non-servicable filter in their transmission. The ATF-Z1 is good stuff, and I have noted better shifting quality in my old automatic Honda with this versus normal Dexron III fluid (back-to-back fluid swaps!).
Honda MTF Fluid: Use this, good additive package. Not as vital to use as the ATF if you have an automatic though, Hondas take to GM synchromesh and Redline really well.
Other than that, use whatever you want. As for spark plugs, stick with NGK; I have noted that these work the best (and I used to work at an autoparts store and have pretty much tried it all).
Honda PS Fluid: Must use, or at least one specifically formulated for Hondas. Honda PS fluid is NOT the ATF equivalent that most other companies use.
Honda ATF Fluid (ATF-Z1): Use this, Honda has a non-servicable filter in their transmission. The ATF-Z1 is good stuff, and I have noted better shifting quality in my old automatic Honda with this versus normal Dexron III fluid (back-to-back fluid swaps!).
Honda MTF Fluid: Use this, good additive package. Not as vital to use as the ATF if you have an automatic though, Hondas take to GM synchromesh and Redline really well.
Other than that, use whatever you want. As for spark plugs, stick with NGK; I have noted that these work the best (and I used to work at an autoparts store and have pretty much tried it all).
Honda ATF-Z1 is probably the best buy for the automatic transmission.
I would at the very least use power steering fluid rated for Honda like Curtis Newton suggested.
Their oil claim is indeed BS.
I don't know about their brake fluid & coolant yet to make any claims.
I would at the very least use power steering fluid rated for Honda like Curtis Newton suggested.
Their oil claim is indeed BS.
I don't know about their brake fluid & coolant yet to make any claims.
I highly recommend you use the Honda PS, ATF and Anti-Freeze, unless you know someone EXTREMELY knowledgable about the makeup of these products and can direct you to the proper substitution.
Honda's motor oils are made by Mobil and are very high moly content. If you do a search you will see that they hold up quite well with up to 5000 mile changes, 7500 is too much. The price of the oil is not much higher then other 5w20 offerings but it is surprising that few if any dealers use Honda oil for changes, usually Castrol or some other non synthetic oil
Please explain why the Honda-spec coolant differs from any other coolant, such as Prestone. I've never used Honda-spec coolant in any of my Honda vehicles and never had a problem.
I would also question the need for Honda coolant. Good as it may be, it's pricey. My wife's Civic has taken to Peak Global very well. The only caution I'd make is to use a low/no silicate coolant. I think this is mentioned in the manual.
I had a 95 Civic that made note that you must use Genuine Honda PS. As for the other fluids, it would "recommend" Genuine Honda but gave you an acceptable aftermarket spec. With my 2004 Honda, it says to use other fluids (DOT3, Dex III & coolant), for temporary use then flush it out as soon as possible.
For me, the cost of Genuine Honda fluids is not that extreme, given the life span of those fluids. If those strict guidelines were for motor oil too, I'd be very
Honda coolant (at least used to) contain no silicate nor borate abrasive cleaning agents. These can kill some Honda cooling system components.
A decade ago, a suitable replacement for Honda antifreeze was hard to find. Now, many are made like this and aftermarket antifreeze can be OK ... but you need to know what you're looking for.
--- Bror Jace
A decade ago, a suitable replacement for Honda antifreeze was hard to find. Now, many are made like this and aftermarket antifreeze can be OK ... but you need to know what you're looking for.
--- Bror Jace
Driven Hondas my whole life. A lot of R & D was placed in their Anti-freeze. It was first developed for motorcycle engines that had lots of Aluminum parts, It was named Honda HP coolant, found out the their Auto version was the came formula. Developed back in the day when Honda was spending most of their money on R & D. Their Formula 1 glory days. I took a 1989 Honda 300K
miles using Honda coolant mixed 50% with Distilled water (most important) I never had any corrosion and replaced the Radiator 1 time thinking it was the source of a intermittent heating problem, after changing the radiator the problem was still there, ended up being a intermittent fan motor! I think the radiator would still be in that car now. I sold the car last year and it still passed CA smog test. I also used Mobil 1 15w50 or Castrol Syntek 5w-50 in this engine every 3-5k miles. no sludge and cams looked new.
miles using Honda coolant mixed 50% with Distilled water (most important) I never had any corrosion and replaced the Radiator 1 time thinking it was the source of a intermittent heating problem, after changing the radiator the problem was still there, ended up being a intermittent fan motor! I think the radiator would still be in that car now. I sold the car last year and it still passed CA smog test. I also used Mobil 1 15w50 or Castrol Syntek 5w-50 in this engine every 3-5k miles. no sludge and cams looked new.
I forgot to mention that I changed the water pump (the original) at 175K. I laughf when dealers try to scare you into changing the water pump every 60K. The main thing to consider is Honda uses O-rings that are sensitive to the Collant and only like Honda Genuine. Don't buy the pre-mixed Type-11 if you can. I have to go to the motorcycle shop to fine the concentrate.
I think the idea behind changing the watewr pump every 60000 is , that is how long you go between timing belt changes ..so while the pump is off.....
Yes, once you are changing the timing belt, you may as well change the water pump. There is not much labor charge involved, and the < $100 cost of a new water pump is a cheap way for me to sleep easy at night.
I'd never go more than 60-70k without changing out my timing belt, it's not that expensive when you consider what will happen if it breaks
I'd never go more than 60-70k without changing out my timing belt, it's not that expensive when you consider what will happen if it breaks
oops, I forgot to mention I changed my own Timing belt on that model, I liked to change the water pump every other timing belt.
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