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Coolant for Honda Accord 96

17 years ago

Below the hood on my car it has a label that I should used Honda Recommended 50/50 solution coolant. It mentions that I should not dilute coolant.

What does this mean? So I can't buy the Prestone anti-freeze and mix it with water myself?

Appreciate your help. Thanks

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Comments (2)

jemdandy
17 years ago
You can use over the counter coolant, but the water pump seals may fail early. I recall something about Honda recommending a non-silicate antifreeze. I know that for their motorcycles (the water cooled ones), a silicate bearing antifreeze will cause failure of the water pump seals. I don't know if the same is true for Honda's auto engines, but I suspect that it is.

Much of third party antifreeze has silicates. Read the label carefully. If it does not mention silicate-free, assume there is silicate in the jug.

The label on your car refers to a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water, and it says do not dilute that mixture. A 50/50 mix produces the lowest freezing point, so you don't want to change that. The label apparently is refering to coolant that is already mixed 50/50.

Use google to search the internet to see if you can find more information about Honda's antifreeze. Some time ago, the magazine, "Motor Cycle Consumer News" published complaints of owners of Honda Gold Wings reporting failures of water pumps. These failures consistently happened after the owners changed their coolants. An investigation by techs for the magazine pointed to silicates in the antifreeze.

Although this is not a definitive study, my personal experience has been that my automotive water pump seals do last longer when I use only non-silicate antifreeze.
john_g
17 years ago
Nice job Jem, you are correct about the low silicate requirement.
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