Coolant Refill
 

A mouse decided to chew a couple of my coolant hoses. Specifically the lower hose to the heater core and the short hose above the oil filter. I replaced them tonight. Of course, when I took off the hose above the oil filter, I lost most of the coolant in the block. Obviously, I need to add a good deal of coolant. My questions:

1) I know some cars must have coolant added under pressure to ensure no cavitation. Do I need to take any special steps with the S2k? Or can I just turn on the car and add to the radiator as coolant is pumped into the engine?

2) The coolant that came out looked great despite being 10 years old. Still clear green and no build up/deposits. I want to use the exact same stuff. What is the factory fill? What percentage coolant to distilled water?

Thanks in advance.

You will probably have a more stubborn time getting air out of the system, but it will eventually work. Make sure the temp control is turned to full hot with the ignition on to drain out all of the old fluid prior to the refill.

This is how I do it:
Fill the radiator to the base of the radiator neck, not the top, but the bottom base, and fill the overflow tank to the full hot level. Run the engine with the cap off until the fans come on at least twice. The fluid level will rise and drop, some will leak out, have some rags handy to catch some overflow. Monitor the temp guage regularly during the process and make sure it doesn't overheat, check it from time to time as it takes a bit of time for the rad fans to activate. Once the fans come on twice, turn the engine off, install the radiator cap. Open up the bleed bolt located on the front of the intake manifold very slowly until fluid comes out in a steady stream and no air bubbles , use a 12mm socket on an extension, have some rags around it as it will spray out to some extent, protect your eyes. Close the bleed bolt when no air appears to be left and fluid comes out steadily. Allow the engine to cool down fully. Once cool, you can open up the radiator cap and fill the radiator if needed to the base of the rad neck as the fluid level may have dropped. Take the car out for a short drive and make sure you are getting heat from the vents and no more than 3 bars on the temp guage (for an ap1, not sure how many bars for an ap2 ?)

If necessary repeat the process if there remains some stubborn air in the system. I run the heater during the entire process with air blowing out of the upper vents, and I usually can tell when the air locks are gone as the temperature of the heating system turns from cool to hot. If you aren't getting hot air out of the heating system there is likely air trapped in it somewhere and you need to repeat the process. I've done this procedure on my car about 5 times and I've never had any air lock issues, it can be a bit messy with fluid spilling out of the rad and bleed bolt but it works every time. There are different ways to do it though.

Use Honda coolant purchased from a Honda dealer, it is pre-mixed, and it is one reason why the coolant still looks good after 10 years, I wouldn't use any other fluid. Get two jugs, no distilled water needed.

I picked up some Honda Type II Coolant yesterday and decided to tackle the refill.

I first noticed that the new coolant was blue while the old coolant was green. I know it isnt a good idea to mix coolant, so I did some internet searching and the concensus seems to be that all Honda coolant post 2001 is the same--they just changed the color recently. According to a Honda Service Bulletin it is fine to mix blue and green honda coolant; so I did.

I filled the radiator and the overflow tank, and then started the car. The radiator level started dropping and I started filling. I used one whole gallon of coolant.

The car got up to tempterature and stuck at 3 bars (proper temp in an AP1), but the heater was blowing cold. I shut the car down and opened the bleeder on the intake. Lots of bubbles. I fired her back up, but heater was still blowing cold. So, I bled her again... more bubbles. I then took it for a drive around the block. At mid-range RPMs, the heater would blow warm (not hot), but at idle, it was still cold.

I took it back home, and the coolant level was a little low. I topped it off, bled it again, and took it for another drive. This time, I hit VTEC in 1st and 2nd. The heater started blowing like its old self again (blazing inferno). I took it home, and bled it one more time. No more bubbles.

I drove it to work today, and the coolant level is, again a little low--still some in the reservoir, but not much. I will top it off when I get home tonight, and bleed it one more time. I think I think I should be good after that.

Is there anything I missed, or should have done differently?

All in all, it took me about 2 hours to get the system bled to where the heat worked properly.

I think you should be fine by the sounds of things, the change to hot temp blowing out of the heater was a sign that the air lock was finally removed. Your situation sounded a bit more stubborn than the typical drain and bleed probably beause of the way the car was initially opened up and trapped some air/fluid in the heater side of the system. I had that happen to me one time and it can be a bit more stubborn to resolve. Blazing hot heat is s good sign though. It sounds like you should be good to go.

One sign to indicate an improper bleed is if the thermostat exceeds 3 bars while driving, just monitor it for the next while when driving , but I'm pretty sure you are safe. Nice job :thumbup:

Keep the coolant handy, and check your level for the next couple trips as well. I went to school after flushing mu system, and the overflow was dry. When I got home I topped it off and the next time I went out, it was half empty. Not a big deal, I just dont like driving with no coolant in the overflow

That is my plan. I threw a gallon in the trunk yesterday.