How do i change the Antifreeze? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

hazedlife · 08-24-2005, 02:02 AM

My car has been using the orginal antifreeze from 97. Has anyone change the antifreeze fluid before and like to tell me how i go about doing this?

terrastrife · 08-24-2005, 02:05 AM

its in your handbook that came with the car (quite detailed as well)

touringcamry · 08-24-2005, 02:10 AM

turn heater to high
drain the radiator
drain the block
remove the thermostat
disconnect both hoses from the engine and flush with water until clear
flush the radiator until clear
refill with water and drain to flush

replace thermostat and hoses
pour 50/50 mix of coolant and water

***RningOnFumes*** · 08-24-2005, 02:13 AM

edit: lol..what touring camry said!!..haha...want to add....make sure your hoses are in good condition too..good time to replace them

refer to this page for homework reading if you didn't do a search first

easy stuff...

1. there is a drain plug on the bottom, at the passenger's side, twist it out and the coolant will drain out. *remove the cap to make it flow easie

2. see if you can find the drain on the engine block...(i just barely found out this part when i got bored on the john and was reading this section of the haynes

) Drain it the same way. i think you might need some tools here as it is not plastic.

3. remember that homework?....follow it to put in the right coolant....50/50 is best i think you can ad more water to the mix if you are in a warmer region.

4---make sure when you are mixing you add distilled water and not h20 from the lawn hose...get it from your local grocery store

hazedlife · 08-24-2005, 05:32 AM

alright. thanks for the info guys, i dont know if i can do all that extra stuff. like changing the hoses and thermostat..

ill see what i can do today.

hazedlife · 08-24-2005, 05:34 AM

i did to a search for antifreeze change but i must have miss that.

***RningOnFumes*** · 08-24-2005, 08:42 AM

don't forget coolant

hazedlife · 08-24-2005, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by terrastrife

its in your handbook that came with the car (quite detailed as well)

okay i dont see anything in the handbook, the 3 hand books or manuals i have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RningOnFumes

don't forget coolant

yeah i think im aware of that ...

im gonna change my antifreeze along with my oil tommarrow. im such a procrastinator..

touringcamry · 08-24-2005, 11:22 PM

I was in a hurry to post yesterday. Here's some more info.

The drain for the block is on the back of the block. You will need to lift your car to get to it. The drain on the back looks almost like a water spigot with a screw on it. If you have about 2 ft of 3/8" ID hose, you will have less mess. You can slip this over the drains and it will not splash everywhere.

The thermostat is on the engine block near the oil filter. There is a hose that goes from the bottom of the radiator to the engine block near the oil filter. Unbolt the cover pull it off, and use some plier and you can pull the thermostat out.

There's two small, 3/8" ID, hoses that go into the bottom of the radiator. You do not want to pull thhese out because that is for the transmission cooler if you have an automatic.

steve97 · 08-25-2005, 04:29 AM

Don't forget, use Toyota pink coolant, not that green stuff at Autozone.

hazedlife · 08-25-2005, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve97

Don't forget, use Toyota pink coolant, not that green stuff at Autozone.

why do i have to use toyotas pink coolant?

how much would this cost me?

touringcamry · 08-25-2005, 09:09 AM

Switching from pink to green is not a problem. You just can't mix them.
I had my coolant flushed at Toyota service and they switched pink to green.

Toyota Pink is $20 / gallon

hazedlife · 08-25-2005, 09:27 AM

20 a gallon. damn. how much gallons of water & coolent does a gen 4 camry hold? i think im gonna go with the cheap green stuff.

REAPER STRAIN · 08-25-2005, 12:07 PM

Camrys use about 1.3 gallons (I4) of antifreeze.

When I change my coolant (or do a flush) all I do is looses the drain plug at the bottom right hand corner of the radiator (near the battery) let all the fluid come out. Does the trip for me without disconnecting hoses and stuff and it seems to get almost all the fluid out. That's the Lazyman's way of doing it if you are too concerned with getting every mL of old coolant out of your engine.

hazedlife · 08-25-2005, 12:58 PM

okay im almost done. im doing it the lazy man way too.^^ removing that metal plate is a bitch, along with those rusted bolts. also i just finished changing my oil.

now how do i remover the coolent from the reservoir?