Radiator/Cooling system flush DIY of Honda Civic 8th Gen

[faiz.aslam.121]

What is the correct procedure to get air out of the cooling system and more importantly, how do I know that there is air in my system?

[shereabdullah]

Brother it depends upon the rust in the system. If it is heavily rusted, then you might refrain from doing it as your gasket might leak. Dont remember the concentration of tatri but it should be that the water turns milky. I ran for a short time to prevent the acid doing damage to system. Then i ran water in the system several times. It is better to run a mixture of baking soda too.

not that rusty,, gaskit was changed almost a year ago and new radiator was installed,, now what do u suggest??

[saadkhangul]

not that rusty,, gaskit was changed almost a year ago and new radiator was installed,, now what do u suggest??

Its upto you bro. There is always a risk of something leaking. Keep yourself mentally ready to fix leaks if you go for it. Show me a picture of inside of radiator with cap removed.

[omarabdullah022]

Its upto you bro. There is always a risk of something leaking. Keep yourself mentally ready to fix leaks if you go for it. Show me a picture of inside of radiator with cap removed.

But I would always be happy if it leaks when I can take care of it. I don't want it to leak in the middle of the night when I am alone without a cell phone or if there is blast and I floor my car to get out of there and my car overheats due to a leaky radiator!

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[shereabdullah]

Its upto you bro. There is always a risk of something leaking. Keep yourself mentally ready to fix leaks if you go for it. Show me a picture of inside of radiator with cap removed.

yes sure,, i will show it tomorow,, rest, i ll proceed with ur suggestion

But I would always be happy if it leaks when I can take care of it. I don't want it to leak in the middle of the night when I am alone without a cell phone or if there is blast and I floor my car to get out of there and my car overheats due to a leaky radiator!

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valid point brother,, but problem is, if leaks appears than i have to take car to mechanic which is at 20min drive from my home,, radiator will be drained in short intervals

[saadkhangul]

But I would always be happy if it leaks when I can take care of it. I don't want it to leak in the middle of the night when I am alone without a cell phone or if there is blast and I floor my car to get out of there and my car overheats due to a leaky radiator!

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thats the spirit bro..... it might be hard and costly now, but it will surely save you much more in long term and you'll have peace of mind....

[saadkhangul]

What is the correct procedure to get air out of the cooling system and more importantly, how do I know that there is air in my system?

well there's a proper way using right bleeding tool but it definitely wont be available here.

The other way is to fill coolant till brim with car off. Then start with cap open and keep pouring a little as the coolant takes place of air in system. Stop the engine when the fans come on or the coolant starts boiling or it takes no more coolant. Put the cap back on and if still there would be any air left, it will go out of the reservoir bottle hole. Keep an eye on the reservoir bottle for a day or 2 as the coolant will take place of air and the level of coolant will go down. keep it between max and min.

[saadkhangul]

yes sure,, i will show it tomorow,, rest, i ll proceed with ur suggestion

valid point brother,, but problem is, if leaks appears than i have to take car to mechanic which is at 20min drive from my home,, radiator will be drained in short intervals

post the picture when you have time. I,ll be here for any suggestions.

[afnan.bashir]

What is the correct procedure to get air out of the cooling system and more importantly, how do I know that there is air in my system?

If your car has bleeding valve you just need to bring car at optimum. Temp and then install big funel on radiator opening fill with coolant then slightly loosen the valve until you don't find bubbles exiting. Bubbles can cause iratic idle

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[faiz.aslam.121]

I got it- Just keep radiator cap off and wait for a " Burp " where air will be pushed out, then firmly attach the cap back on.
Great:) Thanks! ^^

[RL589]

That's how my steermatic manual says changing of coolant :). It never mention opening of thermostat valve? But it said turn the dial to maximum heat
It also mention how to bleed the air after filling the coolant.

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[saadkhangul]

That's how my steermatic manual says changing of coolant :). It never mention opening of thermostat valve?

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Brother you dont need to open thermostat for changing coolant. But for flushing the system to get rid of rust and calcium deposits you need to remove it so that acid moves freely and cleans properly.

[waqarhussain22]

Brother you dont need to open thermostat for changing coolant. But for flushing the system to get rid of rust and calcium deposits you need to remove it so that acid moves freely and cleans properly.

Hey Dude,

Love to see all your hard work, I am annoyed the other day when I pushed myself in a very heavy traffic on Mall road Lahore and exactly the things happen and all in sudden i switched off the AC and the people around me looking at me ... i really felt myself a DUMP for a while ... lol .... Thats crazy, I am going to do the DIY on Saturday in sha ALLAH ... But I have a quick question here ... First I need to Flush the Engine with Tatri the way you explained, so should I use exactly the same amount of Backing Soda which make the water milky ? and Should I flush the system immediately after Flushing with Tatri or after Flushing with Tatri i should I first wash the Block and Radiator with water and then use Backing Soda Flush? and Should i wash the system over after Backing Soda Flush?

I reckon so many question in a bundle of one ...

Also when are you going for a Steering Wheel Flush DIY? as My Steering Wheel is getting a bit harder though i recently replaced the steering wheel power pump but its still not that soft as like the new car, its now 136K driven and its 2007 Civic but i Still love it the only issue is Heating up and the steering wheel!

Really eager to look forward for your input here!

Thanks and be safe

Waqar

[saadkhangul]

Hey Dude,

Love to see all your hard work, I am annoyed the other day when I pushed myself in a very heavy traffic on Mall road Lahore and exactly the things happen and all in sudden i switched off the AC and the people around me looking at me ... i really felt myself a DUMP for a while ... lol .... Thats crazy, I am going to do the DIY on Saturday in sha ALLAH ... But I have a quick question here ... First I need to Flush the Engine with Tatri the way you explained, so should I use exactly the same amount of Backing Soda which make the water milky ? and Should I flush the system immediately after Flushing with Tatri or after Flushing with Tatri i should I first wash the Block and Radiator with water and then use Backing Soda Flush? and Should i wash the system over after Backing Soda Flush?

I reckon so many question in a bundle of one ...

Also when are you going for a Steering Wheel Flush DIY? as My Steering Wheel is getting a bit harder though i recently replaced the steering wheel power pump but its still not that soft as like the new car, its now 136K driven and its 2007 Civic but i Still love it the only issue is Heating up and the steering wheel!

Really eager to look forward for your input here!

Thanks and be safe

Waqar

Thanks for the appreciation bro.

Yes you should run the same amount of baking soda. After running a tatri mixture, flush your radiator and block with plain water. Then put a mixture of baking soda. Then after running baking soda, flush it again with plain water.

The steering oil change was delayed as i am out of country for a while. Will do it when i return.

If you take care of your car and do all the preventative maintenance, it will run a lot longer. I have seen a 4,00,000km driven 2007 civic still going strong.

[waqarhussain22]

Hey Bro,

Thanks for your quick response, really appreciate that, wish you be safe where ever you are right now.

The the sketch is very clear and In Sha ALLAH will do the DIY by tomorrow and will post my feedback then.

Also I got another quick question regarding the Mobil Oil, Like from the last around 1 year I switched to Total 9000 5W30 fully synthetic Oil, however I am not satisfied from its performance so far, before this I was using Caltex Fully Synthetic 5w30 Grade, the reason i switched from Caltex to Total is the Grade as Caltex is no more in manufacturing 5W30 so I switched to Total 9000 5W30.

So now I want to switch back to Caltex but as i said the Grade is 5W40 now not 5W30 so do you think this will matter and its a smart move to switch to Caltex 5W40 from Total 9000 5W30??

As I am very much concern about this switching.

Also please advise how long should I change as per the KM like what do you suggest after 8000KM or 10K or what?

Also what you are using? I means what is your experience of using Mobil Oil in your own one?

Again a list of queries mate, but really don't want to miss this opportunity to get your expert opinion here on all these issues

Thanks again and Please be safe, Hope to get your feedback ASAP.
Cheers!

Waqar

[saadkhangul]

Hey Bro,

Thanks for your quick response, really appreciate that, wish you be safe where ever you are right now.

The the sketch is very clear and In Sha ALLAH will do the DIY by tomorrow and will post my feedback then.

Also I got another quick question regarding the Mobil Oil, Like from the last around 1 year I switched to Total 9000 5W30 fully synthetic Oil, however I am not satisfied from its performance so far, before this I was using Caltex Fully Synthetic 5w30 Grade, the reason i switched from Caltex to Total is the Grade as Caltex is no more in manufacturing 5W30 so I switched to Total 9000 5W30.

So now I want to switch back to Caltex but as i said the Grade is 5W40 now not 5W30 so do you think this will matter and its a smart move to switch to Caltex 5W40 from Total 9000 5W30??

As I am very much concern about this switching.

Also please advise how long should I change as per the KM like what do you suggest after 8000KM or 10K or what?

Also what you are using? I means what is your experience of using Mobil Oil in your own one?

Again a list of queries mate, but really don't want to miss this opportunity to get your expert opinion here on all these issues

Thanks again and Please be safe, Hope to get your feedback ASAP.
Cheers!

Waqar

Do ask if you face any issue during coolant change.

About the oil, I dont like total oils. Caltex and Mobil are far better. Choose either from caltex or mobil. There wont be any issue with the weight of oil 10w-40 runs fine on civic. I,m also using 10w-40. Do use engine oil flush before draining total oil and switching to caltex or mobil. You should run the oil max 7-8k kms with good oil filter. You should not run it till 10k. I change at 5k to be on the safe side.

I am using KIXX fully synthetic oil. Its working very well. Most of the people avoid it as it is a lesser known brand but its quality is very good and i am very much satisfied and using it for 3 years. My engine is clean as a new engine from the inside.

Please do ask if you want to know anything else....

[waqarhussain22]

Hey Mate,

Thanks a million for your valuable input dude, really appreciate your suggestions.

Yeah, i agree with you, i am not satisfied from total and going to change it to 10W40 if got it here from Caltex Agency.

Okay lets talk about the Radiator flush.

I actually opened the system and found that EVERYTHING is as fresh and clean as like new car, so i didnt used Tartri or flush with that, just cleaned it, washed the block and radiator and refilled with Caltex Coolant with a 50/50 level.

Now, I am not sure why but the car is still heating up, like on KalarKahar i noticed that the level got around 1 or 2 dotted upper from the middle level, which i guess is not good, I also noticed that in Lahore at evening it was still heating up to that level, I am really annoyed and dont know what can be the reason?

can it be Mobil oil as the current grade is a bit thinner? like 5W30, i also cleaned the radiator from outside with engine degreaser, but sounds like no fun.

Its seems like my car and me both are in trouble ... Please advise, even though i was suppose to flush the radiator?? actually that was very clean even when i washed i didnt noticed any sand or things and the previous coolant was also clean.

Really confused what to do now and what can this be all about.

Looking forward to your expert opinion dude.
Please be safe and have a great time.
Regards.

Waqar

[Bilalicious]

Hey Mate,

Thanks a million for your valuable input dude, really appreciate your suggestions.

Yeah, i agree with you, i am not satisfied from total and going to change it to 10W40 if got it here from Caltex Agency.

Okay lets talk about the Radiator flush.

I actually opened the system and found that EVERYTHING is as fresh and clean as like new car, so i didnt used Tartri or flush with that, just cleaned it, washed the block and radiator and refilled with Caltex Coolant with a 50/50 level.

Now, I am not sure why but the car is still heating up, like on KalarKahar i noticed that the level got around 1 or 2 dotted upper from the middle level, which i guess is not good, I also noticed that in Lahore at evening it was still heating up to that level, I am really annoyed and dont know what can be the reason?

can it be Mobil oil as the current grade is a bit thinner? like 5W30, i also cleaned the radiator from outside with engine degreaser, but sounds like no fun.

Its seems like my car and me both are in trouble ... Please advise, even though i was suppose to flush the radiator?? actually that was very clean even when i washed i didnt noticed any sand or things and the previous coolant was also clean.

Really confused what to do now and what can this be all about.

Looking forward to your expert opinion dude.
Please be safe and have a great time.
Regards.

Waqar

which car are u talkin abt by the way?

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[saadkhangul]

Hey Mate,

Thanks a million for your valuable input dude, really appreciate your suggestions.

Yeah, i agree with you, i am not satisfied from total and going to change it to 10W40 if got it here from Caltex Agency.

Okay lets talk about the Radiator flush.

I actually opened the system and found that EVERYTHING is as fresh and clean as like new car, so i didnt used Tartri or flush with that, just cleaned it, washed the block and radiator and refilled with Caltex Coolant with a 50/50 level.

Now, I am not sure why but the car is still heating up, like on KalarKahar i noticed that the level got around 1 or 2 dotted upper from the middle level, which i guess is not good, I also noticed that in Lahore at evening it was still heating up to that level, I am really annoyed and dont know what can be the reason?

can it be Mobil oil as the current grade is a bit thinner? like 5W30, i also cleaned the radiator from outside with engine degreaser, but sounds like no fun.

Its seems like my car and me both are in trouble ... Please advise, even though i was suppose to flush the radiator?? actually that was very clean even when i washed i didnt noticed any sand or things and the previous coolant was also clean.

Really confused what to do now and what can this be all about.

Looking forward to your expert opinion dude.
Please be safe and have a great time.
Regards.

Waqar

you didnt bleed the system bro. There is air in the system. Thats why it is acting like that.

Start the car when the engine is cold and open the radiator cap. Now keep pouring coolant a little and keep pressing the upper radiator hose. The radiator will take a little coolant. Keep doing this until the car reaches optimal temperature and the fan comes on and a little steam starts coming out of radiator. When the fan stops shut the engine and put the cap back on. Fill the reservoir between max and min. This should do it. If the temperature goes up 2 points again, repeat the bleeding process.

[waqarhussain22]

Awesome, Thanks bro for the wonderful treat again

I will do that tomorrow and will see how its going. I will keep the result posted here once done with the process.

Cheers!

Waqar