re: coolant

[sfjen]

Aloha Folks-

I would like to drain my system and put in new coolant. Couple of questions:

1. Would you recommend installing one of those Prestone coolant flush kits so you can attach a hose to the system and flush out the old coolant and anything else in the system? Or just open up the drain plugs and let the fluid out that way?

2. What kind of coolant is recommended? I ask because all I see at my local Kragen's is extended life (150K) coolant and I am sure this was not around when my 1989 wagon began its life. So, I am just curious about this. What color coolant too, is all right for our cars?

3. How often should the thermostat be changed out? And is that a part that can only be gotten via Toyota?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
Mahalo

[atobe]

#1 never used one... you can always just undo the bottom hose and let it drain into a bucket or something
#2 use toyota coolant the red ones it's worth the $ but i've used prestone coolant before the green stuff it was ok too.
#3 when they go bad of course... you can get aftermarket ones but from toyota it's like 15$ i think remember to get the gasket when you buy the thermostat.

btw do a simple flush of the sytem not drain and fill.. drain the coolant then fill the rad with water then run the car for 5-10 mins with the heater on high so it'll run to the coolant core then drain the water then fill as usual with new coolant.

[sfjen]

Aloha Atobe-
thank you for your reply. I will locate my local Toyota Service center so I can purchase some red coolant as you mentioned.

Also, I like your idea of not installing the Prestone flush kit but rather to drain as much coolant as possible then to run engine for so many minutes with the heater on. Will try that first.

By the way, I am assuming the coolant from Toyota is the concentrate stuff, meaning I have to mix in the water to say a 50/50 solution, correct?

Thanks again.
Mahalo,
Glen

Originally Posted by atobe

#1 never used one... you can always just undo the bottom hose and let it drain into a bucket or something
#2 use toyota coolant the red ones it's worth the $ but i've used prestone coolant before the green stuff it was ok too.
#3 when they go bad of course... you can get aftermarket ones but from toyota it's like 15$ i think remember to get the gasket when you buy the thermostat.

btw do a simple flush of the sytem not drain and fill.. drain the coolant then fill the rad with water then run the car for 5-10 mins with the heater on high so it'll run to the coolant core then drain the water then fill as usual with new coolant.

[atobe]

they have them in both concentrate and premixed when you goto the dealer so look carefully. last time i almost bought the premixed by accident

[sfjen]

Aloha Atobe-
Thank you for the heads up! I will make sure to check what I purchase in regard to the coolant. I hope the price is good on the pre-mix stuff, if not I can get the concentrate and just ad the distilled water as they say. Thanks again.
Mahalo,
glen

Originally Posted by atobe

they have them in both concentrate and premixed when you goto the dealer so look carefully. last time i almost bought the premixed by accident

[Grego 92]

I think there is Red and Pink...when i went to the dealer the guy asked me for what year camry and said I needed the Red. He mentioned something about years....from some year to this year = Red and some other year to this year = Pink.

I'm not sure though, I ended up going with prestone for now but will eventually change over.

[sfjen]

Aloha Greg-

Did you use the green prestone and was it extended life coolant or just regular? I am having a hard time finding the non-extended life coolant but am curious as to what you chose? Also, how many gallons did you buy? Did you get the premixed with water or the concentrate?

I hope to ask the dealer one of these days too about the Red or Pink color coolant.
Mahalo,
glen

Originally Posted by Grego 92

I think there is Red and Pink...when i went to the dealer the guy asked me for what year camry and said I needed the Red. He mentioned something about years....from some year to this year = Red and some other year to this year = Pink.

I'm not sure though, I ended up going with prestone for now but will eventually change over.

[blu_91_cam]

I did a lot or research on this before I did my flush. sfjen is this the first flush your doing on the car? If you are what color is the fluid in the car right now? You should always try to match the same color fluid that is currently in the car because their are 3 different coolants out there now. Organic Acid Technology, Hybrid Organic Acid Technology, and traditional green ethanol glycol, OAT and HOAT do not mix well together. From the dealer our cars were equipped with traditional green, do not get this mixed up with prestone fluid which is an OAT coolant. Hope this helps.

[sfjen]

Aloha blue_91_cam,

So, then the Red or Pink coolant from Toyota would not be the correct one for our cars but a traditional green one? I just want to confirm this. Also, since I have owned this car, this is the first coolant flush-drain I am doing. Any pointers much appreciated. Thanks!
mahalo,
glen

Originally Posted by blu_91_cam

I did a lot or research on this before I did my flush. sfjen is this the first flush your doing on the car? If you are what color is the fluid in the car right now? You should always try to match the same color fluid that is currently in the car because their are 3 different coolants out there now. Organic Acid Technology, Hybrid Organic Acid Technology, and traditional green ethanol glycol, OAT and HOAT do not mix well together. From the dealer our cars were equipped with traditional green, do not get this mixed up with prestone fluid which is an OAT coolant. Hope this helps.

[white90dx]

I just want to reiterate - don't mix the Toyota Red (or Pink) coolant with the standard green stuff.

If you have green coolant in there right now (you should), just use whatever standard stuff from the auto parts store. If you don't go with the pre-mixed stuff, make sure to use mineral free water (not tap water) when you add the water.

-Charlie

[sfjen]

Aloha Charlie-
Thank you for chiming in too! I will check to see what is in their; again this vehicle only has 74K miles on it but I have a feeling some of the fluids are old! I hope to find the green stuff in their like you mentioned and I will try to locate the standard green stuff to put in. Also, when you say mineral free water, is distilled water correct for this application?

Thanks for your help, I was going to go to Toyota but it sounds like I do not need to for the coolant.
Mahalo,
glen

Originally Posted by white90dx

I just want to reiterate - don't mix the Toyota Red (or Pink) coolant with the standard green stuff.

If you have green coolant in there right now (you should), just use whatever standard stuff from the auto parts store. If you don't go with the pre-mixed stuff, make sure to use mineral free water (not tap water) when you add the water.

-Charlie

[Kingdom934]

This is an interesting question and I also got some questions regarding coolant because I should flush my Camry one soon and my Cressida has 'flakes' inside of the system.


So drain the coolant first (usually loosen lower radiator house) and/or radiator drain plug/engine coolant drain plug?

Reattach hose, fill up with NON TAP water, such as distilled water (I've seen some guides used TAP water for the first few 'runs' and then start using distilled water for the last two or so flushes before putting 50/50 in it. Is this okay too or not?)Run for about 5~10 mins. Run this process several times, maybe the first few times with the heater core closed so i don't clogg it up if I got heavy flakes in the system since I know if the system is prety dirty, it could clogg the heater core, right? I think I may just replace my radiator in my cressida since there's a lot of gunk (brown) stuff inside of it and there's two small pin holes on the top of it that is starting to form.

After doing the above process a few times (or once), reattach the lines and fill up half/half of fluid and then run the car a little with the rad cap off to 'burp' the system for any air inside of it?





Also, the used coolant needs to be disposed at a certified place, right? I've heard mix things about it is okay to dump it down the sink since the treatment plant should be able to and some people saying that you can't do that. I'm assuming I need to check on my local area regulations on that? Just got a few questions about it since I've been doing more and more work on my car.


EDIT: I just checked online http://www.opala.org/solid_waste/Hou...te.html#absorb regarding my local area for proper disposal. Looks like I need to absorb and toss in the trash, such as oil drain box.

[sfjen]

Aloha Kingdom-
Good points. I was thinking about loosening my lower radiator hose so I could get out a lot more of the coolant and soot if this some. Plus the idea of "burping" the system to get out the air. I am also curious if I should run the distilled water more than once through the system and do like you, once without the heater on and then say once with it on?

Lastly, the part about the disposal. I always thought you could dilute the coolant with a lot of water but maybe it should be taken somewhere?
Mahalo

Originally Posted by Kingdom934

This is an interesting question and I also got some questions regarding coolant because I should flush my Camry one soon and my Cressida has 'flakes' inside of the system.


So drain the coolant first (usually loosen lower radiator house) and/or radiator drain plug/engine coolant drain plug?

Reattach hose, fill up with NON TAP water, such as distilled water (I've seen some guides used TAP water for the first few 'runs' and then start using distilled water for the last two or so flushes before putting 50/50 in it. Is this okay too or not?)Run for about 5~10 mins. Run this process several times, maybe the first few times with the heater core closed so i don't clogg it up if I got heavy flakes in the system since I know if the system is prety dirty, it could clogg the heater core, right? I think I may just replace my radiator in my cressida since there's a lot of gunk (brown) stuff inside of it and there's two small pin holes on the top of it that is starting to form.

After doing the above process a few times (or once), reattach the lines and fill up half/half of fluid and then run the car a little with the rad cap off to 'burp' the system for any air inside of it?





Also, the used coolant needs to be disposed at a certified place, right? I've heard mix things about it is okay to dump it down the sink since the treatment plant should be able to and some people saying that you can't do that. I'm assuming I need to check on my local area regulations on that? Just got a few questions about it since I've been doing more and more work on my car.


EDIT: I just checked online http://www.opala.org/solid_waste/Hou...te.html#absorb regarding my local area for proper disposal. Looks like I need to absorb and toss in the trash, such as oil drain box.

[white90dx]

Yes, distilled or deionized water is what you want to use/mix with. (it was late and I couldn't think of the word )

When I converted my 3s-gte Camry over (motor - red coolant, car - green coolant), i just ran distilled water for a couple days, drain and refill again with distilled, drove a few more days, then did did the 50/50 fill with Toyota red.

As long as the coolant isn't rust colored, a quick drain and refill should be sufficient though. If you are really into it, you can drain using the bottom radiator hose and the drain valve on the back of the block, if not, just use the lower radiator hose.

-Charlie

[blu_91_cam]

Make sure you double check the color coolant thats in the car right now. If it appears green then make sure you use whats called traditional green, not the universal type fluid. Most auto parts stores carry the traditional green as their own house brand and it will be called traditional green antifreeze. DO NOT put in the peak universal or prestone all make and model fluid in there, though they may appear green or yellow they are not the traditional green type.