11 year coolant drain and refill

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BITOG paranoia set in and I finally decided to drain the OE coolant in my 2008 Honda v6 (100K miles). Came out crystal clear and the inside of radiator neck showed a like new appearance. Voltage readings were well below allowable limits, too. Refilled with Zerex Asian blue.

Honda coolant probably could have lasted for another 11 years.
 
Drained coolant for the first time last summer on my father's 2003 Mercury. Came out clean but did it one more time later to be safe.
 
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The truth is that some of these coolants are excellent. It used to be coolant were good for 3 years, then 5 years and some manufacturers are now suggesting 10 years. The coolant manufacturers are putting themselves out of business. I use 5 years. No problems.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
The truth is that some of these coolants are excellent. It used to be coolant were good for 3 years, then 5 years and some manufacturers are now suggesting 10 years.


Probably the increased use of all aluminum engine blocks and heads has something to do with it. Whenever I changed the coolant on an iron block years ago, the fluid always looked rusty.
 
Originally Posted by willbur
Voltage readings were well below allowable limits, too. Honda coolant probably could have lasted for another 11 years.

Can you elaborate?
 
Originally Posted by Warstud
Originally Posted by willbur
Voltage readings were well below allowable limits, too. Honda coolant probably could have lasted for another 11 years.

Can you elaborate?

Corrosion is somewhat of an electrical process. I guess he was checking for the potential for there to be corrosion.

I remember in some of my engineering classes I was hearing about a certain voltage placed on pipelines to reduce the amount of corrosion. I looked it up, and it's called "impressed current cathodic protection". Steel is protected with a sacrificial zinc coating (galvanized steel), since the zinc corrodes before the iron.
 
Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by Warstud
Originally Posted by willbur
Voltage readings were well below allowable limits, too. Honda coolant probably could have lasted for another 11 years.

Can you elaborate?

Corrosion is somewhat of an electrical process. I guess he was checking for the potential for there to be corrosion.

I remember in some of my engineering classes I was hearing about a certain voltage placed on pipelines to reduce the amount of corrosion. I looked it up, and it's called "impressed current cathodic protection". Steel is protected with a sacrificial zinc coating (galvanized steel), since the zinc corrodes before the iron.

I think he means the PH Balance (acidity) is within the allowable limits. But acidity isn't the only reason to change the coolant. The inhibitors wear out over time.
 
Originally Posted by Warstud
Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by Warstud
Originally Posted by willbur
Voltage readings were well below allowable limits, too. Honda coolant probably could have lasted for another 11 years.

Can you elaborate?

Corrosion is somewhat of an electrical process. I guess he was checking for the potential for there to be corrosion.

I remember in some of my engineering classes I was hearing about a certain voltage placed on pipelines to reduce the amount of corrosion. I looked it up, and it's called "impressed current cathodic protection". Steel is protected with a sacrificial zinc coating (galvanized steel), since the zinc corrodes before the iron.

I think he means the PH Balance (acidity) is within the allowable limits. But acidity isn't the only reason to change the coolant. The inhibitors wear out over time.


Thank you-
I did not think of acidity but corrosion byproducts due to electrolysis increasing electrical conductivity as an indicator of coolant degradation. Lots of internet info. Just google "coolant voltages" for good explanations. Acidity using voltages is an interesting concept. Hmmm...

I thought about acidity and corrosion. Acidity increases electrolysis which leads to corrosion which then leads to conductive by products and is reflected by observed increase in voltage. Any chemists here to comment?
 
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Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
The truth is that some of these coolants are excellent. It used to be coolant were good for 3 years, then 5 years and some manufacturers are now suggesting 10 years. The coolant manufacturers are putting themselves out of business. I use 5 years. No problems.
smile.gif


Agreed and I think just the whole cooling systems have evolved as well. Everything is sealed and I just don't see many issues anymore. Yeah you get the water pump failures, of course, but the coolant always looks great for what seems like forever. Even Dexcool and GM products look great for a long long time now.
 
Originally Posted by mightymousetech
Honda coolant is rated to last 10 years. Pretty normal that it was fine at 11 years.

My wife's went 17 before there was ever a change. I actually had a bottle about 5 years ago, but it just sat in the cabinet because I wasn't sure how messy it would be. When I finally did it I found that it was ridiculously easy to just drain it. Kind of slow, but the spigot on the petcock goes straight down rather than sideways. I didn't spill a drop on the ground, although I did lay something under it.

Still - there's always something about the initial fill that's different. I remember back in the day of Honda green (not green Type 2) a typical recommendation would be 3 years/45k mile on the factory fill, then 2 years/30k miles after that. The current recommendation seems to be 10 years on the factory fill then 5 years afterwards. I'm guessing part of it is that a drain and fill is only about 75% being replaced. It might even be a little bit conservative.
 
Originally Posted by mightymousetech
Honda coolant is rated to last 10 years. Pretty normal that it was fine at 11 years.


Thank you Mighty etc-
I was unaware the Honda coolant is good for 10 years. Where did you find this info? Does the 10 year lifetime spec apply to the original fill 11 year old coolant as manufactures change specs and formulations frequently?
 
Originally Posted by willbur
Originally Posted by mightymousetech
Honda coolant is rated to last 10 years. Pretty normal that it was fine at 11 years.


Thank you Mighty etc-
I was unaware the Honda coolant is good for 10 years. Where did you find this info? Does the 10 year lifetime spec apply to the original fill 11 year old coolant as manufactures change specs and formulations frequently?


I was an Acura/Honda tech for 16 years.

The timing belt is normally due before the coolant, and we always did the water pump with the belt as the pump most likely would not last till the second belt change. So, you normally get a coolant change every time the timing belt is done.
 
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Originally Posted by mightymousetech
Originally Posted by willbur
Originally Posted by mightymousetech
Honda coolant is rated to last 10 years. Pretty normal that it was fine at 11 years.


Thank you Mighty etc-
I was unaware the Honda coolant is good for 10 years. Where did you find this info? Does the 10 year lifetime spec apply to the original fill 11 year old coolant as manufactures change specs and formulations frequently?


I was an Acura/Honda tech for 16 years.

The timing belt is normally due before the coolant, and we always did the water pump with the belt as the pump most likely would not last till the second belt change. So, you normally get a coolant change every time the timing belt is done.

Aren't the subsequent recommended drain and fills at 5 year intervals? Granted replacing the water pump is going to result in more coolant being replaced than a standard drain and fill.
 
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