07 civic , low on coolant in cold winter

[Bulli]

So i bought this car new and babied this car like none other.
I stored it in 07 and i noticed by Nov. - Dec. that the coolant in the reservoir was low. I thought that maybe the dealer didn't add enough or something.

Well this year 08, after adding a cup of Honda genuine fluid, there was no fluid loss. Until Nov - Dec of 08.

So it seams that it goes about a cup low during cold months.
This year it is stored also.

I am worried because i dont know if this is normal.
There are people with these 8th gen civic's with the R series motors that complain of coolant loss & coolant smell and it leads up to cracked blocks or blown engines.

 

[rationull]

Do you have any coolant smell?

On my 07, I notice varying coolant level with temperature like you're describing. A few weeks ago I was on vacation and the car was parked for just over a week. When I opened the hood before starting it up the coolant was lower than it normally is, but now it's back to normal since the car's been on its normal drive cycle again.

Over my 2 years of ownership I've also noticed that the car seems to lose a [very, very little] bit but my guess is that it's just evaporating since it's not a closed system (overflow isn't sealed). A pressure test turned up nothing.

 

[Drew99GT]

Every car I've serviced shows lower fluid levels in cold weather; not so much oil, but for sure coolant. We get wild temperature swings here where in the span of a week it can go from the 20s to the 70s. If I set the coolant level on my Toyota at 70 degrees, it'll be down a tad on the overflow when it's 20, but it'll be right back at full when it warms back up. My guess is with heat, you get expansion, and with cold, you get contraction.

 

[Bulli]

no smell , I think.
I haven't started the car in over a month now.
But i remember last year when i would start it during this time it would smell like cherries. I don't know if its because of a coolant problem or because of the STABIL in the gas tank.

 

[rationull]

I've never had coolant smell like cherries.

 

[rationull]

Maybe I'm remembering wrong too, but I thought the cracked block thing was only affecting 06 models. Bulli, do you know if that's correct or not?

 

[Bulli]

that is not correct. A fellow civic owner had a cracked block and his was an 08

 

[rationull]

Ah OK. Thanks for the correction then, I must've been confusing that issue with another one.

 

[Mr Nice]

What causes the block to crack ???

I got a 2007 Civic EX with 40K miles and I've never had to add a drop of coolant.

 

[Mr Nice]

http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=141747

 

[JHZR2]

density is a function of temperature. Water gets less dense (more volume for a certain amount) down to somewhere around 0F, when it goes back to getting more dense. How glycol acts I dont know, but if it consistently gets more dense with lower and lower temperature, then it could just be a contraction overall.

Id also be wary of plastic top honda radiators... they are about the worst quality radiators on the road.

And Id do a UOA to verify no glycol... can't be too sure.

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette

I got a 2007 Civic EX with 40K miles and I've never had to add a drop of coolant.



Lucky. I've had to add a couple of times (a very small amount, though). Dealer pressure tested and found "no" leaks, and UOAs don't show any antifreeze so I assume it's either evaporating during the summer here or there's some really small leak somewhere.

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette

http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=141747



Just read that. Wow. With all the 8th gen Civics on the roads, if this turns out to affect a significant percentage of R18 engine blocks it could become a pretty big deal.

 

[Mr Nice]

I'm sure some R series Civic engines will go 300K miles without any problems.... while other R series engine will crack within a few years.

JHZR2 and other people have said in the past that Hondas have terrible quality radiators. We gave our old 1998 Civic to my nephew as a gift and the car now has close to 240K miles. I'm betting that the original radiator will last 400K miles if he doesn't wreck the car.

Maybe you get lucky and buy a Civic that is free of any problems, another person buys a Civic of the same exact year/model has many problems.

Bill from Utah knows someone who bought a new 2001 Civic and it also needed a new engine block due to cracks.....but that doesn't mean every 2001-2005 Civic will have that problem.

 

[parimento1]

I've heard of some other chronic probs on the 8th gen civic, two of them that I know of are the synchros in the 5 spd (I read that the 6 spd has been fixed) and the sunroof leaking. I never heard about the engine until now, but I did know that it was a 2 piece design and figured that was risky...apparently it is.

 

[Donald]

A UOA might be a good idea, would verify there is no antifreeze getting in the oil.

I am in agreement that what you are seeing is normal in winter vs summer temps.

 

[Bulli]

i will be doing a UOA sometime in late 09.
I was using m1 5-20 with Wix but now ill use PP 5-20 with Wix. I just don't want to test it right away because i will still have some m1 left over and second, the car currently has around 9k miles..

Dont get me wrong this car is awsome. I drove in the toyota corola and it was just plain and old.

I average about 30 mpg city. the car handles great, brakes are great, a.c cold, i have the 5 speed automatic and i wish i bought a manual but oh well.

only thing i didn't like with this car was the sound system so i added a 12" subwoofer powered by a 200 watt rms amp and now its a totally different story.

 

[jldcol]

you have a overflow bottle in coolant system because hot coolant expands, conversely colder coolant contracts. This alone may explain this level difference if not to big. Also all the various clamp joints are not perfectly sealed and some gaseous leakage of coolant occurs over time.