Something is rusting somewhere for sure.
Yes, do coolant change with flush. Rubber pieces is likely gasket chunks.
also, your radiator cap needs to be replaced, it's leaking coolant out.

 

When wrote that you put the Toyota Red in, exactly what does that mean? Did you drop the coolant in the radiator and refill? Fill and flush with distilled water? What color was in the system before?

 

Toyota Red OEM concentrate coolant that has to have distilled water added to it. It was meant for Toyotas older than 2004(?).

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I used to have a '96 Camry that only used Toyota Red and not Toyota Pink Super Long Life. I had read that newer generations could still use the old Toyota Red, and since I didn't have Toyota Pink handy, I put this into my 2005.

I'm pretty sure that I did a complete flush then refill when filling with the Toyota Red. As for what was in the system before, my memory is a bit foggy. I think it could have just been basic Prestone green stuff that the previous owner put in, and that's why I switched it over to the Toyota Red.

 

The color is probably a mix of whatever was in it plus the red. There is always some left in after a "flush". If there was some green it it prior, then there is the brown color you are seeing.

I'd go get the pink stuff at Pep Boys, concentrate, buy some distilled water, and mix a few 50/50 bottles yourself. Then drain and refill a few times. Get all the old green out of there.

 

The color is probably a mix of whatever was in it plus the red. There is always some left in after a "flush". If there was some green it it prior, then there is the brown color you are seeing.

Yup, I've seen that too. Red mixed with yellow/green equals orange.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies! I'll likely do a coolant flush and refill again in the very near future, especially since it seems like I have a hose or gasket that's deteriorating somewhere.

 

Crystals around radiator cap. Sign of cap slowly leaking some coolant out, then it crystallizes from the heat. Well, additives in it do. Cheap safety measure.

 

Oh, and make sure to completely flush and clean expansion canister. I bet it has brown crust at the bottom.

 

Yup, I was already able to change out the radiator cap. Lucky that I keep a spare Toyota OEM rad cap for myself in the garage for times like these. Thank you for the tip!

BTW, is it usually safe to use the radiator flush solutions on Toyota cars? Say like this Prestone radiator flush + cleaner?

http://goto.walmart.com/c/404739/56...s://www.walmart.com/ip/Prestone-Radiator-Flush-Cleaner-22-fl-oz-Bottle/35764365

 

Today, I ended up testing the pH of my coolant at the radiator cap opening. pH was 6.5. Not good.

I was starting to worry, but then drained my radiator and the coolant was still bright red with maybe a tinge of brown. Not terrible. Thought it would be worse.

Then I took off the upper and lower radiator hoses. Surprisingly, they were still in good condition. However, I'm still going to replace them since I already bought the replacements for those.

Then I tore open the water outlet opening and took out the thermostat. Uh...

The circumference of the thermostat gasket is like 1/2" too big? What in the world.... When I took off the thermostat, the extra gasket was jammed tightly into the water outlet housing so that it wouldnt leak though. Could a gasket just get larger like that over time? Or was the gasket just the wrong one from the get go? Such a strange situation. The old thermostat tested fine in a pot of boiling water though.

Also, interestingly, the coolant that came out of the engine block was bright pink. Not sure why it wouldn't be reddish like the radiator coolant...

 

When I replaced my thermostat and seal (all Toyota parts, but the thermostat is a revised part), the seals was tight around them, both new and old. Is that a Toyota thermostat in the photo?

When you put it back in, ensure that the “jiggle pin” or “check valve” (that allows trapped air in the cooling system to pass through the thermostat and be released from the system), shown at the top in the photo above, is exactly at the 12 o'clock position.

 

It was a Kuzeh thermostat (hard to see, but bottom left), which I believe is the OEM manufacturer. My new thermostat, which I got from the dealer, does actually have the Toyota symbol on it. They looked practically the same, with some very minor differences. I couldn't tell if the Kuzeh was an aftermarket one, or just different because of the age.

 

I seem to remember the Toyota thermostats had a gold tinge to the metal, which this doesn't appear to have.

 

The OEM O-ring gasket will fit securely around an OEM thermostat. I have changed my 04 V6 thermostat twice using OEM parts with no problem. You never ever want to use a Stant or any other off-brand thermostat in a Toyota. Use the OEM and you won't have a problem. Same goes for hoses(especially hoses).

 

The Toyota OEM thermostat did look ever so slightly bigger.

No idea what the white stuff on the old Kuzeh thermostat is. It didn't have that yesterday and only appears to have turned white overnight.

 

Reaction to something in coolant. Wouldn't have lasted long in any application.

 

Just wanted to write an update to this:

It turned out that it wasn't as bad as I thought. I don't any notice rusting, but I did have some calcification and white flakes/salting in the drained coolant, as well as rubber flakes from something.

Also I don't know if the brownish red coolant was indicative of anything other than it looked that way in dark spaces. The reason I say that is because i have a black drain pan, and newish "pink" coolant still looked brownish-red in the black background.

I believe the biggest reason to change the coolant was that the old coolant was slightly acidic (pH = 6.5) along with the rubber flakes and salting, whereas the new coolant is alkaline (pH = 8.5).