coolant for a '99 Honda Civic SOHC (D16y7)

[semaj281]

My friend needed help flushing the radiator in her car. She showed me the Prestone Extended Life she already got from Walmart and I looked for "diethylene glycol" in the ingredients list. And sure enough it was there. I wasn't sure if Honda intake manifold gaskets are designed to handle Dexcool so she and I went back to the store to return it. While we were there, I saw that ALL the brands, including SuperTech were marked "extended life" and contained diethylene glycol. All of them we also prediluted.
So we left and headed to the Honda dealership. It was closer than the nearest Autozone/AAP, which is why we went there. I figured they would have the genuine Honda/full concentrate stuff anyway so going there would have been the best decision either way.
I found out Honda coolant is also a dexclone and prediluted.
So my friend ended up paying ~$4 more for a gallon of the same stuff she could have bought at Walmart.
However, I saw that Honda coolant is blue. Did Hondas come with blue in 1999? I figure that's a new thing, because her car had green when I drained it. I believe I got most/all of the green out because I found out the coolant capacity is .55 gallon, and I used about half of the gallon jug.
But I'm still a bit worried about the fact that her car went from green fluid to blue. Did I gum things up?


Cliffnotes: '99 Honda with a D16y7 went from having green (unknown) brand to blue (Honda Genuine). Am I going to cause problems?

 

[rshaw125]

A lot of the Dex-cool clones do not have the 2-EHA component that eats gaskets. Prestone and Peak Global do not have this additive. Zerex makes a product specifically for Asian cars. Zerex Asian Vehicle formula. It's a long life coolant available from NAPA.

 

[Smoky14]

1999 year Honda came with green anti-freeze, long life.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: semaj281

I believe I got most/all of the green out because I found out the coolant capacity is .55 gallon, and I used about half of the gallon jug.


Say what?

 

[semaj281]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: semaj281

I believe I got most/all of the green out because I found out the coolant capacity is .55 gallon, and I used about half of the gallon jug.


Say what?

The capacity of the cooling system in this Honda is .55 gallon.
I used about 1/2 of the gallon jug of 50/50 antifreeze I bought.

Therefore I was able to drain most/all of the old coolant out.
This is a good thing in case the old coolant and the new Honda blue coolant are not compatible.
Does this make sense?

 

[semaj281]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
A lot of the Dex-cool clones do not have the 2-EHA component that eats gaskets. Prestone and Peak Global do not have this additive. Zerex makes a product specifically for Asian cars. Zerex Asian Vehicle formula. It's a long life coolant available from NAPA.

I've heard of Zerex Asian. Is it green as well?

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: semaj28

The capacity of the cooling system in this Honda is .55 gallon.
I used about 1/2 of the gallon jug of 50/50 antifreeze I bought.

Therefore I was able to drain most/all of the old coolant out.
This is a good thing in case the old coolant and the new Honda blue coolant are not compatible.
Does this make sense?


No I didn't mean it didn't make sense but I don't think that is the total capacity. You might want to check your owner's manual, I'm pretty sure it is over a gallon.

EDIT: According to the FSM, the total cooling system capacity for the D16Y7 engine is 4.4 qt for the manual transmission model and 4.3 qt for the automatic.

 

[semaj281]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: semaj28

The capacity of the cooling system in this Honda is .55 gallon.
I used about 1/2 of the gallon jug of 50/50 antifreeze I bought.

Therefore I was able to drain most/all of the old coolant out.
This is a good thing in case the old coolant and the new Honda blue coolant are not compatible.
Does this make sense?


No I didn't mean it didn't make sense but I don't think that is the total capacity. You might want to check your owner's manual, I'm pretty sure it is over a gallon.

EDIT: According to the FSM, the total cooling system capacity for the D16Y7 engine is 4.4 qt for the manual transmission model and 4.3 qt for the automatic.

You're right I figured that out after my previous post. This means about a quart or two of green is floating around with the blue.

 

[The Critic]

Honda Type II is not 2-EHA.

 

[Sayjac]

Quote:
I found out Honda coolant is also a dexclone and prediluted.
Only half true. It is a premix, but not a Dexclone. A Dexclone implies the AF contains the active ingredient in Dexcool, 2eha. Honda Type2 does not contain 2eha, and it is now a bluish green (teal), but closer to blue.

Since you don't know what the green was that was used, it could be the original green conventional coolant. As mentioned the issue with draining only the radiator and adding Type2, the green left in the block is still in the system, and that could be substantial, maybe 50% or greater.

The only way to get all the old get out is to do multiple distilled water flushes. After it runs clear, or close, you must do several Type 2 radiator fills and drain to get the right AF concentration, ~50%. However, because Type 2 to is a premix (half water), there is some waste of AF doing this, and either a hydrometer or test strip is necessary to confirm AF concentration.

So the Type 2 won't hurt with the green or make things worse, but the green whatever it is, is not all out of the cooling system.

After you get all green replaced with Type 2 (if you choose), you can as an alternative method, just do radiator drain and fills more often than a total flush series.

Or you can go with full strength Peak Global Lifetime from Napa, do a distilled flush series, find your system capacity, and fill with half PGL and top with distilled water.

 

[semaj281]

Originally Posted By: sayjac
Quote:
I found out Honda coolant is also a dexclone and prediluted.
Only half true. It is a premix, but not a Dexclone. A Dexclone implies the AF contains the active ingredient in Dexcool, 2eha. Honda Type2 does not contain 2eha, and it is now a bluish green (teal), but closer to blue.

Or you can go with full strength Peak Global Lifetime from Napa, do a distilled flush series, find your system capacity, and fill with half PGL and top with distilled water.

Thank you. So not all brands of antifreeze with diyethelyne glycol are Dexclones then.

And what color is the PGL? I'd like to keep the blue AF in it now that it's what Honda recommends.

 

[HTSS_TR]

The color of PGL is gold/amber, same for Zerex G-05.

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted By: semaj281
Thank you. So not all brands of antifreeze with diyethelyne glycol are Dexclones then.

And what color is the PGL? I'd like to keep the blue AF in it now that it's what Honda recommends.
Your welcome.

It's the ingredient 2EHA that makes an AF a Dexclone. The term Dexclone is generally used to describe the All Makes/Models AF's like, but not limited to, Prestone All Makes/Models, Peak Long Life (not Global Lifetime), Wally's Super Tech AF and many auto store brands. They all contain the active ingredient 2eha contained in Dexcool most notably used by GM as factory coolant/AF, thus the term Dex-clone. But, the ingredient diethelyne glycol does not make an AF a "Dexclone."

I'm not going to get into the discussion/controversy regarding Dexcool/2eha, gaskets and cooling system/radiator gelling. If you want more information Google any or all of those key words together, or Dexcool and/or 2eha before, site:bobistheoilguy.com.

The color of PGL was already given above. But, using color to determine what an AF is these days is very unreliable. There's some coolants like G-05 that is gold/amber as stated above when made by Motorcraft or Zerex and pinkish red like dexcool when made by Chrysler/Mopar. So don't count on color.

Even green can be original conventional green or now Motorcraft Specialty Green, to very different AF's. But, I'd be willing to bet your green, if it's truely green, is original green that has been around/used for a long time. Some of the newer original greens are low silicated, which is preferable.

I understand you wanting use Honda Type2 which has no silicates. Perhaps you can run the current mix in your Honda for awhile, and then do another radiator drain and fill. Eventually you will have all Type2, but as you know, it is pricey. PGL is a good, no 2eha option, for a full strength coolant for Asian vehicles.

Lastly, one correction to my previous post. The amount of AF left in the block after a radiator drain and fill is likely closer to 40% or less. I've never not been able to get at least a 50% coolant concentration when doing a system flush and adding full strength AF. You should be able to find your system capacity in the owners manual.

 

[HTSS_TR]

semaj281, are you capable changing one of the heater hose ? If you have tool(s) and capable of changing a heater hose, do the following if you don't mind having tap water in your coolant system:

Buy a heater hose (same diameter and length with current one in your engine) at auto parts store along with Preston T-Flush.

Cut the heater hose by half to install the T-flush.

Replace the current heater hose with the T-Flush hose.

Connect the garden hose to the T-Flush.

Open radiator drain plug.

Open the radiator cap or expansion cap.

Turn the heater to maximum without engine running.

Turn on water for 2-3 minutes, it will flush out all current antifreeze in your coolant.

Close radiator drain plug after all water drained.

Replace the T-Flush hose with original heater hose.

Pour concentrate antifreeze into your radiator, you need 1/2 of the capacity.

Since I installed the T-Flush in my LS400 more than 12-14 years ago, it took me less than 10 minutes to flush the coolant system, that was because I took my time doing it slowly.

There is no leaking, no harm whatsoever with the T-Flush on my LS400 for more than 12 years.