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Engine Coolant

35K views 27 replies 13 participants last post by  Limitless-87 
#1 ·
Our manuals say to use Pro Honda HP Coolant or equivalent high quality ethylene glycol antifreeze containing corrosion protection inhibitors specifically formulated for use in aluminum engines with the added notice that using coolant with silicate inhibitors may cause premature wear of water pump seals or blockage of radiator passages.

I have a new jug of coolant that is JIS K-2234 standards compatible.

Does anyone know if this is the equivalent standard to Pro Honda HP coolant?

Thanks guys (and gals)!
 
#2 ·
I broke down and bought Pro Honda

I have a new jug of coolant that is JIS K-2234 standards compatible.

Does anyone know if this is the equivalent standard to Pro Honda HP coolant?
I did a little research but did not get very far. I was looking for a green coolant ( figuring it would be equivalent ) in automotive stores to match the OEM color but all I could find in green were for old American cars & had silicates. But it was cheap $12.99 gallon. Today I bought a quart of HP Pro from a local Honda shop @ $7.49 only to top up my overflow tank to the high mark. The coolant out of the bottle was a very intense & syrupy green. It even successfully stained my garage floor! I think it would be a good idea to stick with HP. A complete change out is less than 3 quarts. After re-reading the owners manual you may want to review the service manual, I think there may be some special procedure for drain & air bubble evacuation. Coolant change out is recommended @ 24,000 miles or 2 years. MAYBE the stuff they sell at HONDA AUTO is the same stuff & might be cheaper by the gallon ?!
 
#3 ·
I did a little research but did not get very far. I was looking for a green coolant ( figuring it would be equivalent ) in automotive stores to match the OEM color but all I could find in green were for old American cars & had silicates. But it was cheap $12.99 gallon. Today I bought a quart of HP Pro from a local Honda shop @ $7.49 only to top up my overflow tank to the high mark. The coolant out of the bottle was a very intense & syrupy green. It even successfully stained my garage floor! I think it would be a good idea to stick with HP. A complete change out is less than 3 quarts. After re-reading the owners manual you may want to review the service manual, I think there may be some special procedure for drain & air bubble evacuation. Coolant change out is recommended @ 24,000 miles or 2 years. MAYBE the stuff they sell at HONDA AUTO is the same stuff & might be cheaper by the gallon ?!
Coolant on newer Honda cars is blue.
 
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#4 ·
Went to the Honda shop and the spec on the Pro Honda HP is ASTM - D3306. My jug has both that spec and JISK - 2234. I believe one is the Japanese standard and the other is American. In any event I decided to use my jug, however, if I didn't have any, I would have bought the Pro Honda HP as well.

Thanks for checking this out.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I'm sticking with OEM (Pro Honda HP) coolant containing purified de-ionized water.

Just spent the best part of a day sorting this all out and for Christ's sake, I'm a retired automotive engineer and mechanic. Fair warning, a lot has changed since I was officially active in the trade 15 years ago.

You'd think I'd know better (actually I do) than to go 5 to 10 years without a coolant change in spite of (or maybe because of) very low mileage. My Ford has an aluminum engine and rad so one would think there are a variety of vendors with a suitable coolant and that would be wrong. I only need 6L so I had to buy two 4L jugs (yellow) from Ford (using the owner's manual spec) so the left over should be fine in my Fury: WRONG again. There is no indication of silicates in this coolant AND it is incompatible with Ford's latest orange coolant with silicates BUT I think I read somewhere it has Low silicate, is phosphate and amine free (whatever that means) to make up for the lubricity and corrosion resistive requirements. But wait a minute, nowhere on the container is there any indication of silicates and yet it has an ASTM D3306 rating!

On top of the numerous types of antifreeze (maybe a dozen?) there is the issue of distilled water which has been recommended for rads and batteries since the beginning of (my) time. Tap water never hut any of my old clunkers as far as I know but now with aluminum rads and engines, exotic materials in seals and gaskets, esp head gaskets and water pump seals; well, who knows beyond the factory engineers. I mean, what could go wrong?
 Reduced corrosion protection of cooling system components
 Incompatibility with engine gasket materials and o-rings
 Corrosive attack of aluminum components
 Cylinder wall cavitation and engine block damage
 Potential water pump issues
 Plugging of small coolant passageways

Bottom line, this is a very complex bit of chemistry the manufacturers have got us into and if I want to sleep at night it's going to have to be Pro Honda HP premix coolant. The cost is nothing compared to what we spend on gas.
x 3
 
#9 ·
It's just not cost effective to screw around with it. Go with what they call out.

Just today on my truck forum I told some guy that if it worried him to spend the 59 cents and get a gallon of distilled. Truck doesn't care, but if he sleeps better it is money well spent.
 
#10 ·
No Mixing

In 6 seasons of riding my Fury, admittedly only 16,500 miles to date, I haven't had to `top up` my coolant overflow bottle although the book says I`m 3½ years overdue on changing my coolant but that`s another story.

Anyone who has had the need to top up the factory coolant hopefully has done so with a compatible coolant as the OM says and from where I sit the only way to be sure it is compatible is to pour in ready-to-use Pro Honda HP Coolant. Never too old to be a little paranoid :wink:

With all the Googling I`ve done in the past two days there seems to to be a lot of snakes in the grass when it comes to identifying whats in engine coolant these days and the multitude of potentially harmful effects on modern engine materials. The old cast iron bricks have given way to high tech alloys for better and worse. It`s not your father`s antifreeze anymore.
 
#12 ·
I was hoping you would chime in Gar! I figure if they have you baffled, then the rest of us don't have a chance. I was able to find this spec sheet on the content of the coolant I used. It is supposed to be safe for all aluminum engines.
http://www.recochem.com/media/uploads/downloads/TPGSS_CDN_E_0611.pdf

It actually refers to the silicon content and the testing standard for determining it. (There goes another two days of googling:))
But is less than 10 parts per million the same as silicate free? If only I could find a similar spec sheet on Pro Honda HP Coolant to compare. If anyone can find that, I would be interested to see how it compares.

Gar, if it makes you feel any better, I haven't changed my coolant in 6 years and I have over 70,000km (45,000 miles). The only reason I even looked at it was I noticed a couple of coolant drops on the left engine case after a recent trip. While I still haven't verified the source of those drips, it appears they dripped out of the cap behind the ignition switch cover. While I had it open, I tightened the hose clamps and figured I should change the coolant while I was there.

Another point that Gar makes is to ensure we use distilled or deionized water. Tap water is very bad in radiators and engines.

I think Honda has done a good job of being vague enough on the specifications so that most of us will use their coolant. And at the miniscule cost difference it probably makes sense to. Although this bugs me because if Honda refers to "an equivalent", there should be one and it shouldn't be that difficult to verify it's compatibility.

Thanks for the posts and if you find a spec on the Pro Honda HP, please put it on the forum and maybe the faq.
 
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#13 · (Edited)
Old timer's memory at work again. Forgot to mention that the Pro Honda HP coolant is only rated at 2 yrs between recommended changes. Honda Long Life Type 2 Antifreeze meets: ASTM D-3306 and reportedly does not have silicates ...

"Fits: All Honda Models: Honda Type 2 coolant is an ethylene glycol base product for extra long lasting aluminum component protection. Honda coolant has been developed to provide corrosion and rust protection of all cooling system components. Requires no additional corrosion inhibitors. When used as directed in Honda vehicles, this coolant will give complete protection for 5 years or 60,000 miles. No additional water is required. 50/50 Prediluted antifreeze. DO NOT ADD WATER!!
Contains: Water 7732-18-5, Ethylene glycol 107-21-1, Diethylene glycol 111-46-6. Using great than 30 ppm of a bittering agent.
Meets: ASTM D-3306 ~ ASTM D-4340"


MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET

.
 
#14 ·
Drained the coolant a week ago (waiting for sunshine to light up bottles)

and flushed 3 times to get almost all of old green 2yr factory coolant removed.

Important: you can only drain about ½ the coolant at one time so repeated flushings are needed to get all the old stuff out!

At this point the cooling system will be ½ full with straight water.

Added Honda Type 2 long Life Prediluted (50/50) Coolant; Canadian version on right


Here is the kicker; adding premix to straight water should produce limited freezing protection ...

... but as the tester reveals after a few rides to mix it all up I'm good for -35°F if you allow for camera angle ;)
Notice the long life coolant is blue :co-ol:
 
#26 ·
I've had problems with my bike vapor locking from the heat coming off of my motor, spoke to the guys a the Honda Dealership about it and they suggested to use a coolant called Engine Ice. Its suppose to keep your motor about 10 to 15 degrees cooler than using stock coolants and you can use it in just about anything. Another good thing about it is that its 100% natural, so its not bad for the environment.
 
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