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DIY: Coolant flush and change on 4 cylinder Gen 4

71K views 39 replies 24 participants last post by  brianappj 
#1 · (Edited)
Someone has complained here that there is no coolant change DIY. Having just done one so here it is. :D This is for a 4-cylinder 5S-FE, someone do the same for a V6.

Specifications
Capacity: 6.8L with heater

Tools and supplies
Drain pan
Bucket
Funnel
Container with measures or litre scales
1 jug of Toyota Long Life Coolant. Although the '97 still specified the regular stuff, Big Pig being 14 years old means this may allow me to not worry about changing coolants anymore. '99 specified Toyota Red, so settle for nothing less.

4 jugs of distilled water. A dollar a jug at your local grocery store.
Garden hose with spray nozzle
10mm wrench, 10mm socket, ratchet
Big enough pliers for the hose clamp.
Old jugs for old coolant disposal (optional)
Clean towel
Oil filter wrench
Probably all the required supplies for an oil change

Procedure

0. WAIT UNTIL THE CAR COMPLETELY COOLS DOWN.
1. Drain the coolant. The radiator drain plug is to the driver side. Reach down and feel for it. Slide a drain pan under it. Open radiator cap and drain plug.
2. If you have no extra jugs around, pour one jug of distilled water into the bucket to vacate one to store old coolant for disposal.
3. Remove coolant overflow tank bolt and pull tank straight up. Pinch the clamp on both sides of the overflow tank hose and disconnect that as well. Dump the old coolant inside. Clean it well inside and out. The garden hose nozzle comes in handy. Rinse with some distilled water you stashed away for this job. Set aside.
4. Using a pair of pliers, loosen the clamps at both ends of both radiator hoses. You will really have to reach down for the radiator end clamp of the lower hose.

5. Disconnect upper radiator hose from radiator end. Immediately plug it with your palm, and don't let go until you can point it downwards into the drain pan. Don't worry if some coolant spills on the subframe. It's no big deal. Once all coolant has been dumped, disconnect the other end and free the hose.
6. Slide the drain pan underneath the general area of the lower radiator hose. Disconnect the lower radiator hose. Coolant will come gushing out. This is why you need that drain pan in position first.
7. Remove lower radiator hose. You will need to wiggle and pull hard.

8. With both hoses out, look inside them. Using the garden hose, clean out as much scale deposits as you can. I didn't find much deposits inside the lower hose, but the upper one... ugh, not even a pressure washer can rid it of them all.

9. Remove two 10mm nuts and the water inlet. The upper one is on a union stud which came out for me with the nut. This stud is M6x1 on both ends so just jam two nuts on the other end and wrench it off, if this happens to you. The lower one is a bitch to get to because the A/C compressor is in the way. I have no 1/4" flex socket and nothing else can fit in there. This is my only access method:



Stubby or flex wrench may save you from having to do this but I have none, and the oil filter gets in the way of my regular 10mm wrench. The only way I can undo that nut is to remove the oil filter, albeit temporarily. I eventually went on to do an oil change as that is overdue too.

WARNING: Before you run water through the cooling system, put the old oil filter back on hand-tight. Remove oil filter only for thermostat housing nut access. You do NOT want water in your engine oil!

10. Thermostat may come out together with the water inlet because of the gasket. Note that there is a notch on the housing and a loose piece - the jiggle valve - on the thermostat. They need to line up to within 5 degrees when you put them back together. With the notch at 12 o'clock, the jiggle valve also needs to be at 12 o'clock. Got it? Now wrap a clean towel around it and pull it off. With both separated, wipe everything down clean inside and out - inlet, thermostat, gasket. If you have money to spare, buy a new gasket beforehand. But don't put these together just yet; you need the thermostat out for the flush.

Take this chance to pour all drained coolant in the pan into a jug. Mark it for proper disposal.

The part you all have been waiting for: Flushing the cooling system :clap:

11. Reinstall water inlet without the thermostat. Temporarily plug the lower end of radiator hose into the water inlet. Also reinstall the upper radiator hose. Don't worry about the clamps until you are ready for final coolant fill. You should have it like in the next picture, except it shows the upper rad hose disconnected from radiator. That's fine - you'll need it like this during the second flush.

If you can, take the chance to turn the car's temperature control to full hot, just in case. I didn't do it but it doesn't seem to matter.

12. Lower radiator outlet will be open. Slide a drain pan underneath again. Close radiator drain plug and put radiator cap back on. You are about to do the first of two flushes.



13. Jam the garden hose with spray nozzle into the S-shaped lower rad hose, now very high up and easily accessible. Now see why you have to install it this way? :D Now let the water run until the drain pan is almost full. This first drain will show the old coolant's color.


Not quite there yet...

This stuff should be less noxious than the first drain. If you have extra jugs, store these for disposal too, otherwise just dump them down your toilet. NOT THE STORM DRAIN! You want these to go through your city's sewer treatment.

Subsequent flushes should show less and less color. Repeat until the water coming out is clear.

14. This is the second of two flushes. Pull garden hose out. Disconnect the upper rad hose from radiator. Jam garden hose into this. Place the bucket under the lower rad hose. *If you had poured distilled water into this bucket, pour them into a CLEAN jug. You will rinse the cooling system with these later. Plug garden hose into upper rad hose. Let water run. Pause for emptying the bucket if you have to, but keep going until water from this flush is also clear.

15. Flush the radiator. Pull the lower rad hose and plug it into the top radiator port. Point the hose up. Plug garden hose in and let water run. Keep going until water coming out is clear. Alternatively, block the upper port with your hand, point garden hose at where radiator cap goes and spray into it.

Distilled water rinse

16. From your stash of distilled water, save one new jug for the final coolant fill. This jug will constitute your final 50/50 mix. Any water coming out of the cooling system from this point on is clean and can be left on the ground if you feel like it, or better yet, catch them for reuse.

17. Install the lower radiator hose the correct way. This will plug the lower radiator port so it can be properly rinsed. Now open the radiator drain plug and radiator cap.

18. Using a funnel, run 1-2 jugs of distilled water through the upper radiator hose.

19. Place funnel on radiator. Close drain plug. Fill radiator with one jug of distilled water. Drain. Repeat until the one jug is completely through.

20. Now you are done with the flushing. It's time to put things back together. Remove both upper and lower radiator hoses and put the clamps back on. Remove the water inlet and install the thermostat and gasket to it. Remember how they have to line up? Thermostat spring points away from water inlet while jiggle valve needs to line up to within 5 degrees of that water inlet notch. While holding the thermostat to the housing to keep alignment correct, install the water inlet. Torque, if you can get a torque wrench in there, is 78 inch-pounds. Install the upper and lower radiator hoses. The bend on the upper hose should stay away from the auto transmission dipstick.

21. Reinstall overflow tank, connect the overflow tank hose.

Final coolant fill

22. Make sure drain plug is closed. Knowing that only distilled water is left in the cooling system and it holds 6.8 litres, measure half of that - 3.4 litres - of Toyota Red and pour into radiator using a funnel. If the radiator becomes full. squeeze the upper rad hose to let it burp. Check for leaks. This stuff is expensive! After all 3.4 litres of Toyota Red has gone in, top off with distilled water slowly, squeezing the hoses as needed, until the radiator is finally full and no more burping is possible.

23. Measure how much Toyota Red is left and make a 50/50 mixture with distilled water. Pour the mixture into the overflow tank to the full line. Save any extras for future. After a few runs tank level will go down as the cooling system continues to work air out on its own.

24. Run the engine. Again check for leaks.

Congratulations, you have completed your very own coolant flush and change and won't have to worry about it again for the next 5 years. :chug:
 
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#2 · (Edited)
You rock.

I would just add what I learned in the other thread...check with your city/town for local rules regarding disposing of antifreeze coolant.

Do not just flush it down the toilet without checking first. Both city's I live near have it clearly listed on their websites under waste management to take DIY coolant in closed jugs/containers to certain Pepboys, Autozone, and Jiffy Lubes.
 
#6 ·
If you live in the east where it snows in the winter, and if you have ever watched what they do to airplanes to keep the ice of them. The come out on the runway with a tanker truck, and spray the airplane with a "de-icing" liquid. It is sprayed with fire hoses, and I don't know how much they use on each plane, nor do I know how much each airport uses each winter. But they spray it on the plane, it runs off the plane, and it mixes with the snow and then melts and drains off with the melted snow. The de-icing solution is either ethylene glycol or a close variant. It is the same stuff that you have in your radiator.

I don't know the concentration that they use for airplanes, but it has to have a much greater environmental impact that a couple of gallons of 50/50 solution from your radiator. And I bet they use a lot of it on a yearly basis and it all gets poured down the drain. Then again, maybe they collect all of the run-off and send it in tanker trucks to Autozone.

Seems to me the Nanny state is getting a bit out of control.

.
 
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#5 ·
Another comment - I have used Salt Away solution (known for removing salt after boating) after flushing for a week. Saltaway does great job removing the salt deposits inside the radiator very well.....but yes, you do flush twice before put in the new fluid. It does better job than ANY radiator flush solution I've ever used. Most, I don't see the solution removing anything at all.
 
#9 ·
There is on the V6 on the back and the front. Right behind/underneath where the exhaust line comes out of the block (10mm). There is the bolt and then also a drain underneath it. I just did this Tuesday. Very easy to get to. Easier than getting the drain on the radiator.
 
#11 ·
Just gotta say....this helped tremendously....

Only one prob though....I got all the antifreeze in but was only able to get maybe a 1/3rd of the water in....I ran it and was able to add a lil more....

Im thinking if it doesnt settle then im gonna have to drain a lil....add a lil....till it appears i got 50/50
 
#17 ·
Did this yesterday, actually my first time working in the mechanics of my camry (always did interior stuff.. freakin door handles!).
Decent instructions, except I used 50/50 and was confused when it only took half of what it should when I then saw this:

That stubborn thing would not come off. Had to drain the radiator and put in a 100% coolant (not 50/50) to make it correct.

How in the heck do you get the engine block drain plus to come off? I'm not even sure if it was 14mm or something special.

I would advise that the 50/50 vs 100% & water be discussed in the instructions, seems like a few people have gotten caught up on only draining half and flushing.
 
#14 ·
coolant flush

Great DIY instructions, however I have the same questions as JJT211. I was able to dump in 3.4 liter of toyota red but it will not take any water. It's overflowing in the radiator. Was there any water left in the system during the flush or do I have to bleed the air in the system?
thanks Buuri!
 
#18 ·
It doesn't come off completely. Just loosen the bolt at the top of it a couple turns and coolant will drain out the tube. Mine were tight, but not ridiculously tight. But maybe I was lucky?
 
#20 ·
When you flush with a garden hose, you are using (depending on your source) water that has minerals in it. Technically, this could give you problems (but it's probably not a big deal). To be safe, I only use distilled water to do a flush. Drain radiator and block, then fill with distilled water, run engine and repeat two more times or more until all the fluid is just distilled water. Also, you can avoid the problem of not knowing exactly what your ratio of water to coolant is by using this trick: On your final drain after flushing, measure how much distilled water you were able to drain from the radiator and block. Then, you deduct this from what the total manufacturer fill is. This will tell you how much distilled water is still in the system (heater core, hoses, etc). Then, you fill in that same amount of pure coolant and you will have a 50/50 mix. After that, top off with a 50/50 mixture that you mix yourself. This will leave you with only coolant and distilled water (no minerals that could cause problems). Additionally, to save money, you can use a cheaper alternative to the Toyota coolant: Beck/Arnley Red, Pentofrost A1, Zerex Asian formula (50/50 pre-mix only) and some others. I could swear that I've seen a gallon of Aisin brand coolant, but can't find it anywhere now. These are the same as Toyota Red and also cheaper. They are phosphated Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT) coolants. This is just another opinion and you can follow it if you want to (I'm not claiming to be all-knowing). Just trying to help.
 
#24 ·
coolant change

As long as the system hasn't been neglected for years, I simply drain, re-fill with distilled water, run car up to temp, drain and refill two more times with distilled water, drain one last time, then add just under 1 gal toyota red (3.4 liters) because there is about that much distilled water now in engine, check for leaks, burp, check concentration with test device (shown in earlier picture), done!

Now this assumes there are not a bunch of mineral deposits in the system from some previous owner that used tap water in the system.
 
#26 ·
Question about this flush procedure. Let's say you'd like to use distilled water from the gitgo to do the entire flush. With the lower radiator hose installed in the fashion described above, where it's sticking out upward- will pouring distilled water into it provide enough pressure to push the old coolant out, or do you really need to put pressure behind it like that from a hose? Maybe one could affix some sort of homemade adapter and push old coolant out with an air compressor, fill, push, fill, push, repeat?

Thoughts?
 
#29 ·
The thread starter's photos don't show up, but just look like thumbnails possibly because whatever hosting service he was using to host the photos has closed/expired or perhaps reached its capacity as to the number of photos allowed.
 
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