replacing hoses and coolant for "91 Civic $$$

After an oil change, my trusty independent mechanic told my wife that

1. Radiator and heater hoses need to be replaced since the Honda Civic
is now 5 years old :

$350.

2. He says that the coolant system should be flushed from red to
green. Red is bad, Green is good, Red eats gaskets, he says.

$109.95.

3. Power steering fluid is dirty and should be flushed -

$80

Good Advice from this chatboard:

Priceless.

"daytoncapri" > wrote
> After an oil change, my trusty independent mechanic told
> my wife that
>
> 1. Radiator and heater hoses need to be replaced since
> the Honda Civic
> is now [1]5 years old :
>
> $350.

That they are so aged as to need replacement sounds quite
reasonable. The price also seems fair. You can get parts
prices at www.slhonda.com to compare. It has great drawings
to help you.

You should be able to eyeball the radiator and hoses
yourself and make a decision. Do they look old and eaten up?
If so, I'd replace them.

> 2. He says that the coolant system should be flushed from
> red to
> green. Red is bad, Green is good, Red eats gaskets, he
> says.
>
> $109.95.

Use only Honda OEM coolant or orange Havoline Dexcool. They
are especially designed for the high aluminum content
engines Honda uses.

I thought the Red coolant was similar to the orange Dexcool.
Or it is the orange Dexcool. I think both are long-life and
okay for Hondas. (I use the orange Dexcool in my 91 Civic
LX, 176k miles.)

Green Prestone coolant, for one, in a Honda will shorten the
life of the water pump. It's well-documented here. I have
had first-hand experience with this.

> 3. Power steering fluid is dirty and should be flushed -
>
> $80

Probably a good idea for a car this old. Price is fair. But
if you haven't much money, this is the one you want to
skip.

Keep checking back. I'm sure your post will result in much
input.

I've been told by an Acura service manager that Honda coolant is very
easy on hoses. Maybe something to do with less electrolytic activity
than other coolants? Anyway, they didn't replace my heater hoses as I
had asked on an Integra, and that's what he told me. The car went a
total of 10 years and 119,000 miles with no problem from those hoses.
Had an I30t go 10 years, 111,000 miles with no trouble from the hoses
too.

The upper/lower radiator hoses are relatively easy to get to & is a
do-it-yourselfer for maybe $70 using OEM Honda parts. If the hoses are
very hard, or very squishy, or showing cracks, they need to be
replaced. Otherwise, I wouldn't.

Five years is very early in my opinion. Would be about right for
detroit iron, but Jap rubber generally lasts very nicely.

In lieu of $80 for drain and fill on the power steering, I'd do it the
easy way. Take the hose off the reservoir if a new clean turkey baster
can't get to the fluid, and empty it. Then refill. Do it several
times, driving around between drain and fills. Cost you just a few
bucks, will be pretty effective, and this is a non-critical item anyway
unless you plan on driving the car until it drops dead.

Use only Honda coolant or /maybe/ Dexcool. I'm not even sure about
Dexcool any more; that I30t lost a water pump ($650) at 95,000 miles
using dexcool, which is very early & Nissan pump seals are not nearly
as sensitive as Honda seals.