Yesterday I drained the coolant from my Civic and put in some new stuff. This was only my second drain & fill, so I'm not sure if this is anything to worry about or not. I noticed when I was waiting for bubbles to come to the top of the radiator cap hole, I would occasionally see small black bits at the surface. I got a paper towel and swabbed a few of them. One of them is the black dot here in this pic. The pic is magnified about 2x.
The coolant history of this vehicle is spotty. I have no idea about its maintenance before 80K, when I bought it. I don't think I touched the coolant until about 150K, when I had the timing belt changed and the coolant was flushed (with green--this is what my mechanic wanted). At 180K, about 2 years ago I did a drain & fill, and this week makes my second.
FWIW, I have never noticed any heating problem with this car, at any time. Needle always stays at the middle after a few mins to get there.
Since about 180K, I have been pretty decent about keeping the coolant level in the overflow reservoir at the top mark.
I do not remember this at all, when I drained it 2 years ago, although b/c that was my first time, I suppose I might have missed it, but I doubt it---at that point, I was looking for bubbles, just like I was yesterday.
So is this anything to worry about?
The coolant history of this vehicle is spotty. I have no idea about its maintenance before 80K, when I bought it. I don't think I touched the coolant until about 150K, when I had the timing belt changed and the coolant was flushed (with green--this is what my mechanic wanted). At 180K, about 2 years ago I did a drain & fill, and this week makes my second.
FWIW, I have never noticed any heating problem with this car, at any time. Needle always stays at the middle after a few mins to get there.
Since about 180K, I have been pretty decent about keeping the coolant level in the overflow reservoir at the top mark.
I do not remember this at all, when I drained it 2 years ago, although b/c that was my first time, I suppose I might have missed it, but I doubt it---at that point, I was looking for bubbles, just like I was yesterday.
So is this anything to worry about?
Last edited: