Gen III Coolant and ATF change problem-free

Someone said when they opened the engine block drain bolt they only got a few more tablespoons.

Plus could be you need to remove the windshield lower cowl, wipers and their motors, not sure.

This is one service I might leave to toyota too.

I'm doing coolant change on our son's civic in a week or two. It's one circuit, no Techstream nonsense. I will open the engine block bolt, it's similar but easier than the toyota cowl removal, the wipers stay in place. It's relatively easy to burp out the bubbles, just run the car with rad cap open, baste if it overflows, top up when it drops.

 

Lots of places do that, and it's just WRONG. If you have a vehicle that old, you should remove all of it and fill with fresh. Otherwise, you are diluting the new with the old. It might be a passable option if you change it out more frequently, but they make these cars so hard to "drain and flush" that mechanics take shortcuts. If you ask them to do it the right way, they would likely double the cost because of the extra work needed.

 

Yeah when I got coolant from a Honda deslership (for upcoming Civic coolant change) I asked for replacement washer for engine block drain bolt. They said they'd have to order it in, and it was $6.95. Phoned another deslership, same story except they were asking seven something.

 

Well done, Mr. Bill. Lee's Summit...hometown of my guitar hero - Pat Metheny.

 

I changed my ICE coolant yesterday. I drained the engine block and radiator. The engine block drain is easily accessed from below. It is located about 6" above the oil filter housing on the back of the engine.I also removed the hose to the exhaust heat exchanger and got about another half gallon of coolant out of it.

 

What was the quality of the drained coolant - any debris or dirt within?

Did you open the radiator drain first? If so, do you agree with Mr Bill's observation that the engine block drain didn't yield much fluid, after the radiator has been drained? (With 2G, I observed that the engine drain doesn't yield much fluid if the radiator drain, or even better, the coolant heat recovery system drain is opened first.)

 

Good question. Did you pull off that coolant hose at the exhaust after everything else?

Another thought: DIY'rs tend to have just the front raised, tilting the car, maybe a factor?

 

I put the car on jack stands at the front and rear. The car was level. I drained the engine block first because I wanted good flow to flush out any debris or dirt. I got about 3 quarts from the engine block drain with no debris or dirt noted. Then I drained the radiator and got about 2 quarts. Lastly I removed the hose at the exhaust and got about 2 more quarts. I refilled the system with 7 quarts of new SLLC. The quality of the old fluid was very good, clear and bright. It did loose a little of the pink color and looked more pink and red.

 

the Air Release Valve is the white plastic part with a slot in it, right?
i could only open it 90 degrees CCW, but nothing happened. i filled to the expansion tank to the highest line (B-line), but nothing showed up at the Air Release Valve outlet. am I doing this incorrectly?

thanks!

update: thanks to another member's PM (thanks Dark_matter_doesn't !), it took more than one turn to open the valve (be careful, after several turns, the whole plastic comes out).

the valve is pictured here: Coolant Replacement Interval | PriusChat

i understand this applies to 2010 only. the valve was removed in 2011+.

 

I'm prepping to do ATF/coolant changes on our 2012 that just passed 100K. Since it seems like removing the splash shield is the biggest pain in this process, is there anything else (aside from engine oil) I should be doing before putting it back in place?

 

Wash out the plastic fasteners in hot/soapy water is always a good idea. Keeps them from jamming and then breaking. Put a drop of light oil on the bolt threads too.

 

Old hoses getting that much heat can leak if disturbed. I don't wanna deal w exchanger coolant....