choosing the right coolant, this is a good read from popular mechanics ! Options

[Culpable04]

I've seen some water pumps failed in a matter of 4 months ( OEM pump on a camry 2001 ) and some engine badly corroded for something as simple as topping off your coolant with the wrong stuff,.

I know a lot of you already know this, but for those who don't and a reminder for the ones who have forgotten.

READ !

[Hanyo]

yup i am one of the few people who OCD about coolant.

Front what i can tell, you can use any coolant you want as long as you do a complete flush and replace with the new coolant. Along with using distilled water only.

mixing coolant = mud and good bye to your engine and heater core.

[blu94gt]

yup i am one of the few people who OCD about coolant.

Front what i can tell, you can use any coolant you want as long as you do a complete flush and replace with the new coolant. Along with using distilled water only.

mixing coolant = mud and good bye to your engine and heater core.

Yep, should be able to use anything you want as long as you flush the whole system and mix with distilled water.

That muddy crap that gets churned up sucks, I had to flush my Miata's system every few days for like a month to try to get that crap out when I bought it.

[Rook]

ugh. i'm having that problem right now. (muddy coolant.)
didn't realize coolant had to be completely flushed before changing. lol. Im not very familiar with the coolant thing.

so...i'm pretty sure i gotta lot of flushing to do.
my question is... since i'm gonna be doing this alot... am i gonna have to go out and keep buying coolant every few days?

[Johnnyny]

ugh. i'm having that problem right now. (muddy coolant.)
didn't realize coolant had to be completely flushed before changing. lol. Im not very familiar with the coolant thing.

so...i'm pretty sure i gotta lot of flushing to do.
my question is... since i'm gonna be doing this alot... am i gonna have to go out and keep buying coolant every few days?

you should not have to after you flushed the system correctly if i read the article correctly

[D-Man]

I choose to got the dealership and get the TOYOTA FOR LIFE COOLANT.

dark red with metalic flakey stuff in it. Specifically MADE for our cars.

[Jamchell]

I choose to got the dealership and get the TOYOTA FOR LIFE COOLANT.

dark red with metalic flakey stuff in it. Specifically MADE for our cars.

/agree

I recently picked up a 1996 Toyota Avalon with 32k miles for my Grandma to drive, it has the original red Toyota factory coolant in it right now and it still looks perfect after 16 years.

[HectortheRican]

I choose to got the dealership and get the TOYOTA FOR LIFE COOLANT.

dark red with metalic flakey stuff in it. Specifically MADE for our cars.

Really? How much is that coolant?

[D-Man]

depends on the dealership. Usually 26 dollars give or take. (iirc that's what i payed recently)

Pricy- But it's worth it IMHO.

With a name like TOYOTA FOR LIFE; and knowing they have several formulas; And having the guy ask the yr/make/model of your car before he sells you a bottle- HOW CAN YOU HAVE ANY DOUBT IT"S THE BEST DAMN THING YOU CAN BUY FOR YOUR 6GEN!??!?!?!

[HectortheRican]

depends on the dealership. Usually 26 dollars give or take. (iirc that's what i payed recently)

Pricy- But it's worth it IMHO.

With a name like TOYOTA FOR LIFE; and knowing they have several formulas; And having the guy ask the yr/make/model of your car before he sells you a bottle- HOW CAN YOU HAVE ANY DOUBT IT"S THE BEST DAMN THING YOU CAN BUY FOR YOUR 6GEN!??!?!?!

Damn! Well I gotta go get that stuff and do a radiator flush, huh? First I'll buy an aluminum radiator and then I'll fill it with the Toyota for Life stuff!

[Rook]

ugh. i'm having that problem right now. (muddy coolant.)
didn't realize coolant had to be completely flushed before changing. lol. Im not very familiar with the coolant thing.

so...i'm pretty sure i gotta lot of flushing to do.
my question is... since i'm gonna be doing this alot... am i gonna have to go out and keep buying coolant every few days?

you should not have to after you flushed the system correctly if i read the article correctly

Well Blue94gt mentioned he had to flush his Miata every few days to get it all cleaned out right.
My Celi is BAD. I pop off my radiator cap and jab the radiator with my finger and pull out fudge.

But guess i'll just buy cheaper stuff for now until i'm sure all that is completely gone. then I'll put in the good Toyota stuff. nothing like good ol OEM parts. (....or fluids in this case.)

[OOBE]

My GEN3 3S-GTE literally had inches of mud clogging the radiator fill water neck and every hose.It was like Play-Doh. I don't know how that car ran without overheating. I'm sure the guy used tap water instead of coolant .But I used tap water on my 7A-FTE for years and the worst that happened was that the radiator got a little red inside from oxide. Nothing bad. The head was in awesome shape.

[Hanyo]

My GEN3 3S-GTE literally had inches of mud clogging the radiator fill water neck and every hose.It was like Play-Doh. I don't know how that car ran without overheating. I'm sure the guy used tap water instead of coolant .But I used tap water on my 7A-FTE for years and the worst that happened was that the radiator got a little red inside from oxide. Nothing bad. The head was in awesome shape.

tap water varies depending on your location. If your radiator was fine means you have good tap water.

I know some area's have alot of hard water. And when you use that in your car for extended period of time it can eat away your head gasket.

[HectortheRican]

My GEN3 3S-GTE literally had inches of mud clogging the radiator fill water neck and every hose.It was like Play-Doh. I don't know how that car ran without overheating. I'm sure the guy used tap water instead of coolant .But I used tap water on my 7A-FTE for years and the worst that happened was that the radiator got a little red inside from oxide. Nothing bad. The head was in awesome shape.

Boricua! I haven't been back in two years but I'm gonna try to this summer! Hopefully my work lets me..

[D-Man]

Best way to flush your radiator (especially for you guys with rust, and playdough, and mud; resembling substances inside of it) is to put the water hose into the top. then duct-tape the sh!t outta it and put the hose on full blast!! Make sure you open the drain port on the bottom though~
this way you'll presureize the lines and force that stuff out.

Let it run till the water comming outta the bottom is clear.

[JuMPiiN]

Best way to flush your radiator (especially for you guys with rust, and playdough, and mud; resembling substances inside of it) is to put the water hose into the top. then duct-tape the sh!t outta it and put the hose on full blast!! Make sure you open the drain port on the bottom though~
this way you'll presureize the lines and force that stuff out.

Let it run till the water comming outta the bottom is clear.

Lol I do that with every car I touch. Let it rub for about 10 minutes or so like that and then just close the drain fill with coolant an let it run for a bit with the cap off to get the air bubbles out. Good as new.

[hurley97]

I choose to got the dealership and get the TOYOTA FOR LIFE COOLANT.

dark red with metalic flakey stuff in it. Specifically MADE for our cars.

lol... thats a good nickname for it. But just for the record the Toyota red stuff is called Toyota Long-Life Coolant and should be flushed every 30k miles although (depending on conditions of course) is usually good for longer than that. The new stuff they make is pink and its called Toyota Super Long-Life Coolant, it comes in 1gal pre-mixed containers of 50/50 coolant/distilled water. Costs about the same as 1gal of the red stuff even though its diluted already, but the replacement interval is 100k miles. It actually looks just like the water wetter I put in my inter-cooler that's supposed to reduce intake temps.

I agree its the best stuff you can put in a Toyota. Its made for them.

I got this a long time ago at a University of Toyota class I had to go to for work...


This post has been edited by hurley97: May 30, 2010 - 8:10 PM

[KAOS]

I choose to got the dealership and get the TOYOTA FOR LIFE COOLANT.

dark red with metalic flakey stuff in it. Specifically MADE for our cars.

x2

When I asked for it, the parts guy was like, "Your engine doesn't require that you use this stuff you know..."

... anything worth doing, however is worth doing correctly.



Parts guys... hahahaha.

[malpaso]

I have been using the same coolant in my celi (long life - red)

[Rook]

Best way to flush your radiator (especially for you guys with rust, and playdough, and mud; resembling substances inside of it) is to put the water hose into the top. then duct-tape the sh!t outta it and put the hose on full blast!! Make sure you open the drain port on the bottom though~
this way you'll presureize the lines and force that stuff out.

Let it run till the water comming outta the bottom is clear.

is the car supposed to be on when doing this?

my car is sitting without the radiator in it right now. i just came in from pulling it out and figured i'd look into flushing it in case it'd be easier like this. (i also dont want that crap getting into my new radiator.) the radiator i just pulled out is hardly a year old and it burst on me this morning. lol. by burst i mean it didn't just crack like glass... the plastic actually split where the top is at to where i can see into the radiator. i'm guessing it may have something to do with needing a flush.


This post has been edited by Rook: Jul 22, 2010 - 12:13 AM