Hey guys,

I am no mecanic, but I like to try new stuff and DIY. I can do basic things on cars, and now my Fit 09 is at 200k kms. I need to change my anti-freeze according to the manual.

The dealer wants 100$ CAD for this. I'm wondering if I can do it myself. Looking around the forums, I see that people pretty much always do a flush with distilled water. However, I don't know if a flush is also required when putting back the same Honda Type 2 coolant or if people are doing a flush because they are changing the coolant.

I plan on getting the Honda Genuine Type 2 coolant, which is the same one currently in. Is a flush with distilled water necessary in that case or just draining the radiator and engine block then putting back new coolant is enough ? (pretty much like changing engine oil)

Thanks,

Neo.

 

Personally I don't see the point of flushing the fit, unless you see evidence of buildup, just drain and refill with the Honda coolant. As long as the coolant is in good shape there really shouldn't be anything in the system to worry about.

Its very hard to get all the water out of the system as well. To do it right the plug on the side of the block has to be pulled and its a BI*** to get out. (Unless your lucky.. )

I used my shop vac on the lower hose to help evacuate what I could, I couldn't get the plug out of the block , ended up having to drain part of it back out and add more of the honda stuff to get the blend up to spec for MT weather.. There was evidently about a quart of water still trapped in the block. This was after a head gasket swap, I started the engine with water to leak check then drained and filled.. YMMV

 

Thanks for your answer.

When only draining and not doing a flush, is it necessary to drain the engine block as well ? Or only the radiator and reservoir ?

On a side note, does anyone know if the dealers are doing complete flush with water or only drain/refresh ?

 

you're not REQUIRED to do it, i did not do it when i did the GE's. i seriously doubt dealers will do a full flush service anyway.. wat they usually recommend is after the first change (like 4th or 5th yr i think it was), do the next coolant service in 2-3yrs.

i recommend you use this funnel by lisle or similar. it is very convenient to burp the system. its very cool.


https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....L._SL1500_.jpg

 

I just use the Honda OEM fluid and drain and refill every so often. Only get out about 3 quarts each time, but it's easy and cheap. Honda fluid is premixed so no need to dilute.

 

Thank you guys. Sorry for the late reply, I was out of town for some time.

So to sum it up :

- I only need to buy 1 jug of Honda coolant
- I drain the reservoir through the top
- I drain the radiator through the radiator flush bolt
- I refill the reservoir with the coolant
- I refill the radiator with the coolant and burp the system
- No need to drain the block engine

Is that it ?

Thanks !

 

ninja edit

 

I did a full flush on mine because that's what I've always done. Used regular dex-cool orange. I was a little nervous about using non OEM coolant at first but the more I read on it it should be fine as I completely flushed the old coolant out. Took 4-5 drain and fills with water before it was clear then added full strength coolant on the last fill. Got 50% of the volume out the last fill so it's 50/50 now. At least theoretically.

 

The above procedure worked well for me. Few notes though:
- I had to jack my car up to get enough room for my hand/arm to reach the plastic drain bolt (drivers side bottom of radiator)
- I removed the radiator cap first (makes the draining part faster)
- Drain and cleaned the reservoir before draining the radiator
- Filled radiator to the to top of the neck
- Ran the car at idle (a few times for no more than 90 seconds at a time... manually increased RPMs to 1,500 for a little while) until fans cycled on and off twice (cold weather can make this take forever and require you to increase RPMs or you will never reach operating temp)
- Turned on heater to full hot with fan speed at 3 and let car idle for 10 minutes more
- Topped up radiator
- Filled reservoir to half way point
- Monitored the next few days for any coolant loss
- Total coolant drained and added 3/4 of a gallon