So, I am doing some maintenence on my 94 Accord. Thanks guys on helping me with my tranny fluid question the other day. But now I need to do my coolant.

I was quoted $95 for a flush and fill, I thought that was an okay price, until my neighbor taught me how to do it myself. I'm thinking that there must be more to it than what I was told, why else would a place charge almost 100 bucks for what would cost me the cost of fluid alone and a tad of labor?

Here is what my neighbor told me to do:

Drain fluid in radiator
Unplug coil
Crank car a couple times to drain the rest of the fluid
Fill radiator
Hook coil back up
Run the car for a minute to let the thermo tell the radiator to let the fluid into the engine
Fill the radiator again

And then it's done. Is this right? I know it's not a complete flush, but it's so simple I could do it in 15 minutes or less.

 

The $90 price may include a complete system flush with a detergent. Drain, flush, rinse, refill will take closer to 40 minutes if done correctly. The matierals and disposal fees are about $20. Might be highe if they are using OEM Hona fluid. It's stall a little high. I'd expect to see prices around $50-70.

 

I don't think that Honda recommends flushing the coolant. The procedure from the service manual is to open the petcock below the radiator, then open up the one below the engine. Close them, refill radiator, refill reservoir up to 'full', loosen radiator cap, then start engine until the fan comes on to verify that the coolant is at the correct level.

 

Unless you're lucky enough to be able to crack loose that drain plain on the back of the engine block on your own, which I couldn't do, you'll need to crank and run the car for just a few minutes to make sure you do get most of the fluid out, etc. And yes, there is a petcock at the bottom on the radiator that needs to be opened to AND you can disconnect the bottom hose to help drain things too.

If you can do it, it's best to run a detergent through for a couple of days before you do a fluid swap. Of course, you don't want to leave the detergent in for more than a couple or few days.

 

Thanks guys for the advice. I didn't get to do it myself, when my friend was doing the tranny fluid, he also worked on the broken heater, when he was messing with the thermostat he drained some of the fluid somehow and decided to finish draining and filling it, I don't know all he did because I wasn't there, but I do know that he did not do a flush, just a drain and refill.

I'll take this knowledge and put it towards when I need to do it again in the future.