What color coolant for an '86?

[atikovi]

I'm draining the coolant in my '86 Camry to get ready to replace the head gasket and it's got cherry red cough syrup looking stuff in it now. I thought only the late model Toyotas use that coolant and the previous owner may have put it in. When I put it back together should I refill with the red coolant?

[Tommy]

you can change over to whatever you want, but yea - toyota coolant is red, dont mix it with green. if you want to use green, you can, just make sure all the red is out, dump the resivour, put a hose in the upper radiator hose, undo the lower radiator hose and run water through it till its clear, then you can switch back to green.

[atikovi]

I only drained the radiator and just got maybe half a gallon. I think I'll just use the red stuff to refill since getting all the old stuff out is too much trouble.

[Tommy]

uh, no...you need to get the old stuff out anyways...its not trouble, its how you flush the coolant system. just take a hose and shove in in the inlet and turn the water on..its not hard

[marc780]

Prestone makes one thats compatible with everything. And so i just use that, cause a true remove-all-traces flush is too much trouble for me to mess with as im the lazy type sometimes. There's at least half a gallon left behind no matter how you flush, and thats why i generally dont use flushing chemicals to be left behind in the coolant passages. As long as nothing but water is left behind you're good.

After a flush, I always add the whole 50/50 amount of coolant (example I add
1 gallon straight coolant first, the whole thing, for a 2 gallon system - i think my 2002 V6 is 9.6 quarts anyway).
I always only buy straight coolant never 50/50, cause to me that idea is stupid. Because i know where to find the water to mix it with, and dont need the corporation to do it for me and then charge me too.
If you used the 50/50 mix your coolant will be understrength, especially if you did a really good flush. Like i said, theres always at least half a gallon of coolant and/or water left behind inside the engine.

[Tommy]

turn your heat on, shove a garden hose in the inlet, unplug the lower hose, turn the water on and let it flow...5 minutes later the water will be clear, and then your done. if you're too lazy to do that, you dont need to be working on a car

[88 LE]

^ Actually you want to unplug the upper hose. The lower hose is the inlet.

Instead of removing hoses, open up the drain on the radiator.

[Tommy]

for a full flush like he's talking about, ill unplug the upper and lower, shove a hose in the upper, turn the heat on to open up the heater core, then let the water run through it. after thats done, ill do the same to the radiator itself.

[marc780]

for a full flush like he's talking about, ill unplug the upper and lower, shove a hose in the upper, turn the heat on to open up the heater core, then let the water run through it. after thats done, ill do the same to the radiator itself.

I dont know id do it that way, what about the thermostat...the cold water will close it and no water gets in the block. then what ?

[Tommy]

i never had a problem, water goes in one hole, and comes out the other.

[te51levin]

Toyota Red all the way. I do not trust Prestone or any other that claims to be compatible ith everything. Get everything flushed and clear and get back with the red stuff.