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My son has taken his 99 accord to a repair shop where they diagnosed the problem as a busted radiator. They are replacing radiator at a cost of roughly $200…. question is regarding their recommendation of a flush at an additional $80. Should I tell my son it’s necessary to spend the extra $80 or call the shop and just make sure they will do a proper bleed when refilling?
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Hey yvc,
I’m by no means very qualified to answer your question, but I thought I’d give you my thoughts. How is the radiator busted? If it’s in such poor shape that it’s contaminating the coolant, then a flush would probably be necessary. If the coolant looks fine (may be hard to tell though), then it’s possible the flush wouldn’t be necessary. But also keep in mind a coolant flush is recommended every so often, so maybe the car is due for one anyway. Good luck
Hi yvc,
Well, I think you can go either way on this. By replacing the radiator, some new coolant will be added to the system. If the system has never been flushed though, then I think the $80 would be well spent. I am assuming the coolant flush is being performed by an automatic coolant flush machine (and not just a radiator drain and refill). If the repair shop does perform a coolant flush, make sure that the repair shop also performs a coolant pressure test. This should be part of the coolant flush. A coolant pressure test is performed to ensure that the cooling system is in good working order with no leaks. If the cooling system does not hold the proper pressure, then the coolant will have a lower boiling point (which would be important on hot days, especially if the car has working A/C).
Good luck and keep us posted.
I haven’t found the Honda coolant to be imparative but unless they are going to go the extra mile and remove the tstat I wouldn’t bother, in fact I don’t feel that it’s necessairy unless there is evidence of sedement in the system, personally I’d pass on the flush. It’s imparative that they bleed that cooling system correctly when they are done with the work however so if you experience idle issues or an overheat after the work is done then it’s probably a result of not bleeding the system correctly.
I think the most important thing with coolant is to stick with a specific kind. I don’t like mixing of different brands/types. Like GM use Dexcool (aka Deathcool), it’s fine if there is no air in the system or it’s never been mixed with other types of coolant. If you violate one of those it gets pretty nasty.
Honda stuff is really good, but it’s quite expensive. I’m with Eric on the coolant thing.
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