re: Surprises and some Questions 89 wagon

[sfjen]

Aloha Folks-

Do not know where to begin. First Charlie, Grego, Atobe and if am leaving anyone out I apologize, thank you all for help on many projects for our 89 v6 wagon.

I decided to get some assistance on my Timing belt and water pump. Met a great mechanic also from the islands up here in the mainland. He has a like a mobile setup so he came to my place. I had gotten all the parts for the Timing belt, water pump and seals. I assisted where I could and washed and cleaned parts as they came off. This car had about 75K original miles on it when I purchased it. But it was not garaged and not maintained as well as we thought. It is a testament to these cars how well this one has run the past 4K since I have owned it.

The water pump and thermostat were the originals. After getting the parts off in and around the timing belt, we could see the oil leaks better as well as the leaking around both valve cover gaskets.

So, after getting the timing belt, tensioner, pulley, seals, water pump and new thermostat-gasket in, plus the 2 smaller belts. Gary (mechanic) began to take off the plenum. We discovered on my Camry that most likely the 3 plugs in the back as well as the 3 plug wires were the originals! Oil was found on 2 of the old plugs in the back. The 3 front plug wires were newer as well as the plugs. Also, we think the cap and rotor were also original. Thank God I had purchased from Toyota new platinum plugs, cap/rotor, fuel filter and air filter. I did not get the wires as should have (Grego I hope next time I can get the blue NGK's like yours!). So, yesterday (Sunday) I had to go and get a valve cover kit, which I did from O'Reillys. Come to find out as we are putting in the new seals, we find out that the kit is missing the spark plug tube seals to keep the oil out of the chamber and a couple of grommets! O'Reillys closed at 7pm and here I was trying to find a place and AutoZone was till open and had the same kit and it was complete, I also brought brand new plug wires at the time.

Needless to say, with all the surprises, this kind man stayed for 12hrs yesterday. I was going to take a photo of the old parts but thought I just need to throw them away and start new. The vehicle ran well before but I did not have a reference to really compare with. After the new plugs, wires, cap, rotor and PCV, breather tube went in, what an incredible difference!

One thing we did not do was add in new coolant because the old stuff was old and dirty so Gary said he would drain it and put in regular water for right now. He said it might not be a bad idea to go to one of the Jiffy Lube places and get the coolant-system flush so that all the junk can get out. Would you recommend this? Or would it be better to drive it for a day, then drain it and put in more water, drive it and drain it, do this one more time then put in the Red or Pink Toyota coolant?

Again, this vehicle did not have the car it should have and we do not know how old the coolant is. So, I wonder if I should do this coolant flush via a Jiffy Lube or do the manual drop and drain? If I do the coolant flush, would I tell Jiffy to just put in the regular green non-extended life stuff?

Lastly, I understand that the timing belt and water pump should be done every 60K or 6yrs which ever comes first. Is this also a good timeline to do the plugs, wires, cap/rotor, fuel filter and air filter?

Look forward to suggestions about the coolant flush.

Mahalo!

[sfjen]

When to a business today that specializes in coolant flushes. They said it would take about 45mins to an hour and it flushes the whole system including the heater core. They also said that they could put in the red Toyota coolant for a few dollars extra.

So, would you do a coolant flush on our car's systems? Of just do it the old school manual way.

Mahalo!

[Grego 92]

I've never done one or had one done, so I can't comment on that. When I put mine back together I had the radiator hot tanked, inspected, and a tiny leak welded up. Not knowing any better at the time i put prestone (green 50/50) in. I am currently doing multiple drain and fills with distilled water to flush it all out and then will fill with toyota red.

[Doctor J]

After flushes the leaks in the cooling systems can usually develop; just drain and re-fill it.

[sfjen]

Aloha Greg & Doctor J-
Thanks for your replies. So, if I want to do like Greg, how many days should I run on just water before I drain it and put in more water? I was thinking of doing 2 to 3 drain and fills before I put in the Toyota Red Coolant.

And do I need to ask Toyota for a specific coolant or do they just have 1 Red Coolant? Also, I was trying to find out how much coolant to buy? Not sure if I needed more than 1 gallon, since I will be mixing it roughly 50/50 with distilled water.

Thanks again for your help.
Mahalo!

Originally Posted by Grego 92

I've never done one or had one done, so I can't comment on that. When I put mine back together I had the radiator hot tanked, inspected, and a tiny leak welded up. Not knowing any better at the time i put prestone (green 50/50) in. I am currently doing multiple drain and fills with distilled water to flush it all out and then will fill with toyota red.

[sfjen]

Aloha Greg & Doctor J-
Just found something Charlie had posted to one of my earlier questions about running the engine with distilled water for a few days, then draining it and doing it again for a few days. I think I have regular water in there right now, so I am going to get that out of there and put in the distilled water and run that for a few days and drain and fill it one more time with distilled water then get the Toyota Red coolant. I know Charlie said to do this so many times to insure one has gotten the old stuff completely out.

By the way, what is the capacity of our cooling systems? I am sure I can only drain out so much but at least it will give me a reference point as to how much coolant and distilled water to buy.

Thanks as always.
Mahalo!

[Grego 92]

I think that's where I got the idea from, seeing charlie's post. Distilled water is cheap, I bought 5 gallons for less than $5. I just drain and fill when I have time and remember, sometimes after a week or two. I've done it twice and just going to keep doing it until my water runs out. The fluid draining still has a green tint to it.

[sfjen]

Aloha Greg-
I think I will do what you are doing and get me 5 gals of the distilled water. When the time comes, do you think 1 gal of the Toyota Red coolant to 1 gal of distilled water is enough for our systems?
Mahalo!

Originally Posted by Grego 92

I think that's where I got the idea from, seeing charlie's post. Distilled water is cheap, I bought 5 gallons for less than $5. I just drain and fill when I have time and remember, sometimes after a week or two. I've done it twice and just going to keep doing it until my water runs out. The fluid draining still has a green tint to it.

[Grego 92]

Just use the entire gallon of coolant and whatever is left needing use distilled water, maybe you won't need any distilled water. I have no idea until I do it.

[atobe]

1 gallon of toyota red concentrate will be more than what you need.

[sfjen]

Aloha Folks-
Thanks for the info! I will be doing the fill and drains a few more times then get the red Toyota concentrate coolant.
Mahalo,
glen

Originally Posted by atobe

1 gallon of toyota red concentrate will be more than what you need.

[sfjen]

Aloha Atobe & Greg-

You folks probably know this but I went to see my friend at Toyota yesterday and even though he gives me a good price on parts the 1 gallon of coolant was $24.00! He was amazed at the cost too! It is twice as much as say Autozone's traditional green coolant. The Toyota coolant on the front label says, "Long Life" on it. How long can we go on this red coolant before it needs to be changed? Just curious about that.

I am still doing the drain and fill with the distilled water, hopefully I can put in the Toyota coolant soon.

Mahalo,
glen

Originally Posted by atobe

1 gallon of toyota red concentrate will be more than what you need.