Question on if I should add water-pump lubricant to 2016 Honda CR-V?

[JimPghPA]

Hi everyone on BITOG. I have been reading the Honda CR-V forum in the Generation 4 section and although as some have posted her on BITOG the 2.4 L NA engine in my 2016 CR-V is a well proven engine, two common failures occurring with 2015 and 2016 models were starter failures, and water-pump seize up causing the serpentine belt to break or come off, and while there were only a couple of post of each of these failures they were at low miles. As low as 30 K. Some are questioning if Honda is skimping on quality. Anyhow, I know that Honda has a special pre-mixed long-life antifreeze that is rated for 10 years or 120,000 miles. And this antifreeze comes with de-ionized water already mixed in with it. Also when you do a maintenance on the antifreeze Honda wants you to only do a drain and fill with the same Honda pre-mixed antifreeze, and not introduce any tap or bottled water into the system. I think it has to do with only using de-ionized water. And since a drain and fill does not replace all the fluid, from then on you are only good for 5 years each drain and fill.

What I am wondering is would it be a good idea to add water-pump lubricant to my cooling system, in hopes of providing some additional lubrication to the water-pump?

Or is there a seal between the antifreeze and the bearing of the pump that would prevent this from having any benefit?

And would adding water-pump lubricant detract from the life expectancy performance of this antifreeze?

I am thinking of calling the local NAPA on Monday and asking them what they have or can get for a water-pump lube additive.

My 2016 CR-V has 22 K miles on it now.

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Also, to keep it very reliable, I will most likely have the local starter and alternator shop rebuild the starter when it hits 50 K miles, if they are still in business then. At 4 K to 6 K per year that is a ways away.

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Thanks in advance for any input about adding the water-pump lubricant.

Stay safe.

 

[Nick1994]

If you're worried about it, at that 50k mile mark just replace the water pump with an aftermarket one of a Honda can't get it right.

 

[Chris142]

No. Water pumps had to be greased back.in the 30's. You'rs is sealed and adding a lube only contaminates your cooling system.

 

[Quest]

water pump lubricant?! cars made since the 70s onwards are all sealed units and never heard of any benefits nor needs of adding water pump lubricant into coolant to lubricate water pump bearings.......

Q.

 

[LazyDog]

I would be proactive and just replace it around 50K or sooner if you have to replace the serpentine belt.

 

[ChristianReske]

There is a deidcated water pump lubricant from Honda.

Have a Look: http://s2000.club/ -> Maintenace - > Honda Rec. Service produscts -> Greases and Lubricants

I change the cooling at my Honda liquid from time to time, i simply just use the german Ravenol blue cooling liquid that claims to be a similar substitute to the Honda OEM liquid.
I allways use deionised and demineralised water, because it is dirt cheap and recomended by most cooling liquid manufacturers.

 

[WagonWheel]

The water pump issue is covered by
Honda TSB #A17-063
which lists In the linked PDF the probable cause as “The water pump bearing is out of specification.”

It’s not clear to me on how adding a lubricant would address the bearing out of spec issue. It also is why you probably see the failure occur on low miles / low time examples.

Quality issues at Honda are debatable for sure, but Remember they sold 700k units across the two years. In many cases it can be hard to tell what is “statistically significant“ from reading forum posts.

 

[Trav]

It cant lube the actual bearing but they may use some sort of double lip seal on the inner that is lubricated with coolant. On the other hand it is also possible that if they are using that sort of an arrangement it has come back to bite them in the backside with seal failures.

 

[Gebo]

Not a good idea to introduce a foreign substance in your coolant. The Honda OEM coolant has everything it needs to cool and prevent
corrosion inside your engine.

I'd just change the coolant earlier than 10 years or 120K miles. I'd go half that on my first coolant change.

 

[nthach]

Water pumps use ball bearings with a mechanical seal. The OEM Honda coolant is fine, the Japanese are against silicate for their belief that it can destroy the mechanical seal.

 

[Schmoe]

Got over 100K in ours, no problems before we traded it in for a new one.

 

[partspro]

Water pumps use ball bearings with a mechanical seal. The OEM Honda coolant is fine, the Japanese are against silicate for their belief that it can destroy the mechanical seal.

i have to say that we sent alot of failed waterpumps for testing and silicates destroyed most of them.. so if the lube keeps silicates out .. go for it

 

[kschachn]

i have to say that we sent alot of failed waterpumps for testing and silicates destroyed most of them.. so if the lube keeps silicates out .. go for it

Out of what? The bearings?

 

[partspro]

Out of what? The bearings?

the silicates first enter the seal and the bearing gives out real quick

 

[kschachn]

the silicates first enter the seal and the bearing gives out real quick

Well yeah, that's what I was wondering. Any bearing that gets coolant in it will fail in short order. That's the whole problem I have with "water pump lubricants", especially any that mention the bearings.

 

[Revving2Redline]

I change blue coolant every 50-60K and no issues at current 351,000 miles. I did replace a hose or two to be proactive and topped off then as well. I think oil does more in keeping engine cool than anything else so I would use the best oil possible and change it when necessary

 

[kschachn]

I change blue coolant every 50-60K and no issues at current 351,000 miles. I did replace a hose or two to be proactive and topped off then as well. I think oil does more in keeping engine cool than anything else so I would use the best oil possible and change it when necessary

Oil does have a role in cooling the engine, but the coolant is what rejects the heat to the environment through the radiator.