Ok, bit of a newbie question here but I've bought a gallon of Honda coolant for my 2007 Fit Sport and having a bit of a problem locating and reaching the radiator petcock. Do I have to remove the big plastic panel under the front of car. And does the car need to be jacked up for me to even reach the petcock. I don't have ramps or jack stands so hoping it can be done without.

Thanks!

 

I didn't have to, I have long arms.
Here is a picture of the top drain plug. Good luck getting to it. If you don't, there will be a lot of coolant left inside.

 

Thanks. From reading the forum, it seems that many say the the Honda coolant is such high quality that it's fine to simply drain the radiator and refill it rather than draining the block as well. Is that incorrect?

 

When I do mine I drain the rad, The reservoir and I disconnect the hoses to the block from the front and back and use a shop vac to suck it all out of the head and heater core. For a job you only do every 3-5 years it doesn't hurt to be thorough.

 

^^^ That is what I do. And, I think Honda assumes that as well.



Not sure how the Maintenance Minder "schedules" coolant change notifications, but for fluids that cannot be easily totally drained (ATF and coolant come to mind), traditional Honda service schedules take this into account by increasing the frequency of the service after the first change.

So with coolant, the first replacement would come five years from new...but after that, the schedule is more frequent, such as every three years subsequently. (<--- Gotta look it up, this is just an example)

As long as you change these fluids in this manner, the active ingredients will be sufficient to protect your car, as designed.

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The one exception is Brake Fluid. Because brake fluid doesn't "flow" as it does it's job, you do need to flush it out and replace it at least every three years as Honda recommends. I'll be doing that (for the second time) on our Fit today...

 

I hear people in other forums use toyota super extended life coolant, which is good for 10 years...even though they don't drive a toyota.