As some of you know I used to have a 01 Civic. I still have the bottle of antifreeze and brake fluid from Honda unopened. Just wondering if I can use them in my P5? I'm pretty sure the brake fluid is ok as they're DOT 3 as well. But the coolant is a Honda 50/50 pre-mixed formula. And it's orange in color as suppose to the green stuff we have.

 

about the only fluid that i know thats special is the honda power steering fluid. you should be alright.

 

The orange/red is an extended life coolant made with propylene glycol. The standard green is made from ethelyne glycol. The green stuff has a little lower freeze temp and a slightly higher boilover temp as well as marginal edge in heat transfer ability. The orange/red stuff is less toxic. If you want to use the orange/red, you should completely flush out the old coolant and replace with new. General practice is not to mix but doing so shouldn't hurt anything.

 

Actually coolant is coolant is not correct. There are two kinds of them out there. Ethelyne glycol based (usually the green) and Propylene glycol based (usually the orange). The two are NOT mixable... and they really should not be interchanged unless you can really get a complete flush of the system. Also, propylene based ones do not get along with certain engines and cause some nasty corrosion. You need to stick with what the car manufacturer intended the engine to use.

In addition, color alone does not a coolant make... it seems that there are a whole lot of diffent kinds of engine coolant in use through out the world.

Here is a link on coolant information:
http://silverstone.fortunecity.com/f...64/coolant.htm

and for those that might have access to someone with an Autoweek subsciption there have been two columns in the past few months on this very topic... I'll see if I can dig them up and post the relevant information.

 

I used to work PT at Schuck's Auto Supply. Oops, there goes my validity... Anyhow, I was told that if you mix the "orange stuff" with the "green stuff" it messes up the PH balance or something and it starts to eat the rubber hoses and seals.

Now, from watching all those 'Secret' strong enough for a man, PH balanced for a woman commercials, I sincerely believe that when you start messing with PH man, you grow ***** or something.

Anyhow, bad ju-ju my friend. They made the antifreeze orange for a reason. Don't make "brown" antifreeze. Sure mixing some things like diet pills is ok (no it's not ). Now, the orange coolant is supposed to be nicer to the coolant systems it is DESIGNED for and supposedly lasts longer.

I would recommend calling the dealership and ask the nice young lady to talk to the "tech guy" and ask them if it's okay to flush your green coolant and put orange in instead.

Oh, I forgot. That brake fluid I don't know about. Why exactly are you putting more brake fluid in your new car? To be safe, buy the fluid from your dealership, and sell the stuff you got to someone who has a honda.

You can also opt to flush your brake system and put in new or better fluid (better is subjective, look at the suspension/brakes part of the forum). I do know that like the antifreeze, when you start making brake fluid "cocktails" you're in for some bad mojo (or possibly *****, if you don't have them already). Ok I shut up now.

 

Uhh, sorry, but not all brake fluid is the same, either. Dot 3 and Dot 4 are generally compatible with each other, but you would never want to put Dot 3 into a car requiring Dot 4. The other way around is okay, as far as I am aware. Then there is Dot 5, typically used by Chrysler. This should NEVER be mixed with Dot 3 or 4, nor should Dot 5 be used in a Dot 3/4 system or vice versa. Lastly, I think VW has yet another type of brake fluid, incompatible with the others.

And of course, ALWAYS get your brake fluid from an unopen container as it absorbs water easily.

 

Never Use Dot 5, its a sythetic, use Dot 5.1.
I prefere Ford Hi-po racing brake fluid, its cheep and works great.