[CamPoo]

Just buy one meant for Asian brands (e.g. Peak, Zerex, Preston), it'll say so right on front of bottle. Easier to buy the pre-mixed type (50/50).

If not much maintenance has taken place to cooling system over the years, its is very likely the radiator cap spring has become weak, allowing too much coolant to leave the radiator, overflowing the recovery tank and then sucking every last drop back in, though it is missing some in the radiator now.

Buy a Toyota OEM brand radiator cap, 3rd party may not have the correct spring pressure, that is the key to it all working properly. Luck.

 

[retiredat444]

all cars usually end up with needing a new heater core... check it out, as it will not get any better on it's own.

 

[barkbark]

Just buy one meant for Asian brands

Asian brands aren't compatible with each other. The best bet would be to go to valvoline and flush the coolant with all vehicle prestone, then it will be compatible with any coolant you might find at a gas station in the event you break down.

Also, keep an eye on the temp guage, it could very easily over heat if there's a large leak. What to do is to go to some parking lot and find a clean parking space and park there for an hour or so. Then either move to different spot or use a flashlight to see if there's any dribble under the engine bay. Then open the hood to inspect where the leak is occurring.

Or you could just take it to a mechanic. If it's the water pump expect to pay around 1500$ or so.

 

[1990Toyota]

if you don;t know whats in ther just flush it out and put somethig thats made for your car. You likeley need a heater core anyway and have to drain the system

 

[gearhead899]

Have you noticed the passenger side floor being wet under the dash? Thats where you would see it if the heater core was leaking. You could get a cheap coolant pressure tester to pressurize the system with the car off so you can look and listen for leaks. As others have said, dont mix the coolant. If you dont know what kind it takes, check the manual. The car is probly due for a flush anyway so just flush it out with water till it comes out clean, then fill with the correct coolant.

 

[norm356]

Heater core solder failure is a classic symptom of someone having used the wrong coolant for too long.

Toyota developed silicate free coolant (that "Asian Red") for good reasons and this is one of them.

 

[AtoB]

I don't smell antifreeze anymore. Don't see any leaks on the ground other than oil either. The driver's side carpet was dry. I will check the passenger side. I ordered some "Supertech OE Red" coolant that said it was for Toyota. I'm thinking of draining what's left in the radiator, fill with Supertech, drive to work and back, drain radiator again, pour another gallon in... Sound like a good idea? I like CamPoo's sugestion about getting a new radiator cap too.

 

[AtoB]

Actually I just looked into the radiator and the color of the fluid is greenish. The bottom of the resevour also has wet greenish residue. I think CamPoo is right about the radiator cap.

 

[new echo owner]

Have you figure what is causing the coolant lost? What make you think is the radiator cap causing the coolant lost?
Have you check the water pump?

 

[AtoB]

@new echo owner

At this point I think it just slowly evaporated away. Or maybe some overflowed out of the reservoir like CamPoo suggested due to an old radiator cap. I'm gonna switch the coolant over to supertech toyota red in the near future when I get chance. I'm reading up on how to flush the green coolant out, and put the red in. Not sure where to recycle the stuff, though.

I'm gonna change the oil before I tackle the coolant. I ordered some synthetic oil from walmart. I am inspired by this YouTube channel called "car care nut".

Why don't car companies use the engine oil for coolant? Then there would be less things to service.

 

[new echo owner]

If coolant was flowing out of the reservoir, you would see coolant below the reservoir.
Check the engine block area below the alternator, next to the compressor, see if there coolant tracks there. A leaking water pump usually shows up there.
Anyway, your car you decide!

 

[AtoB]

@new echo owner
I'll check it out. I got some ramps and I'm gonna change the oil today if it shows up from walmart.

 

[AtoB]

Oil change did not go well. To make a long story short... my ramps are shattered and there's brake fluid all over the drive way. FAIL.

I'm not sure what happened to the brakes yet. If there is line busted, is that something I can fix myself?

 

[Jeff83]

What happened? Did you drive all the way over the ramps and jam them under the car? You could have damaged the brake lines under the car on the drivers side. If you did there’s no easy fix for that.

 

[AtoB]

@Jeff83

Ramps shattered after the brakes exploded. I got the oil changed, though.

I'm not sure what to say. It was pitch dark and raining. I used the breaks pretty hard driving it on and off the ramps. I'm not sure exactly when or how they ruptured. I had a couple pieces of firewood under the rear wheels that I forgot to remove when I backed off of the ramps. Maybe they popped up and hit a break line when I rolled over them?

Then, I thought, well maybe I can get it back up on the ramps and see what happened. I was gonna take a picture of the issue and post it here. So I tried to drive it back up on the ramps. The driver's side ramp shattered. The passenger side ramp ended up wedged right where the jack point is behind the passenger side front wheel.

 

[new echo owner]

What area do you see the brake fluid? Could be one of the brake hose got tore off!

 

[AtoB]

What area do you see the brake fluid? Could be one of the brake hose got tore off!

I'm not sure. I tried to discern a pattern on the pavement, but it's hard to tell at night in the rain.

 

[AtoB]

Also, I forgot to look around for the coolant leak while I was under the car. So nothing further to report on that front yet.

 

[new echo owner]

Totally understandable!
Forgot to say, as long as you or anyone else didn't get hurt in the process, it is all good!
Parts and tools can be repaired or replaced!