Coolant Question

[barryware]

I searched and only found recommendations to "leave it alone" in regards to the coolant used.

Is Dex-Cool (orange) compatible? Not for a top off, but for a complete replacement.

It's a long story, but I am the proud owner of 1 gallon of fresh dex-cool in my cooling system.

[IllusionX]

i believe is good as long as you change it at the good interval ? i mean, even distilled water works.

[YarisSedan]

I searched and only found recommendations to "leave it alone" in regards to the coolant used.

Is Dex-Cool (orange) compatible? Not for a top off, but for a complete replacement.

It's a long story, but I am the proud owner of 1 gallon of fresh dex-cool in my cooling system.

Actually dexcool is the same as toyota long life coolant. So its no problem. I think even if you look on the back of the bottle it lists all the manufactures that it can be used with.

Pretty much you can use any coolant with any car. As long as they are not mixed. You would have to do a complete exchange. IE no mixing ethelene glycol green coolant with red.

Suposidly it causes a reaction that can cause problems in your water pump and coolant junctions

[barryware]

In looking at the specs for the Dex-Cool, all I can find is the ansi specs, and the gm cert numbers.

I called prestone and went over all the "non-this & non-that" that is required by Toyota.

The guy a Prestone said that their coolant is compatable. I was not comfortable with his answers because I don't think he really knew what I was talking about and he was very hard to understand (if you know what I mean).

In my research, there is also a class action lawsuit that may or may not be settled right now. Seems Dex-Cool was causing damage to engines in which head gaskets needed replacing.

For the 16 bucks for the genuine Toyota coolant, I went to a local dealer today at lunch time and bought a gallon. I'll replace the dex-cool tonight with the OEM stuff.

[IllusionX]

why did you have to replace your coolant ?

seems the coolant change interval is 75kmi

[barryware]

why did you have to replace your coolant ?

seems the coolant change interval is 75kmi

Well... I told you it was a long story but here goes..

My son (who is a wanna be mechanic) was going to do me a favor a replace the serpentine belt. He noticed that the engine was still warm and the reservoir was on the low mark (even with the engine still warm).

So he runs to the auto parts store to buy some of the "pink stuff". No pink stuff on the shelves so he get the "orange stuff (dex-cool)) instead.

Not wanting the mix the two (good idea), he drains the cooling system and pours in the dex-cool.

Probably won't hurt anything but for the piece of mind, I'm going to put in the oem stuff. I bought two gallons. It takes one gallon to fill after draining.

I don't want to flush the system with tap water so I'll change it again in a couple of weeks (that's why I bought two gallons).

[PetersRedYaris]

Toyota OEM Pink is best. I have compared the 'ingredients' in the Toyota OEM pink coolant with almost every other brand of coolant and none of them are a direct match. The Toyota pink coolant has some orgaic acids that the others lack. However, the owners manual states that any non-silicate, non-phosphate, ethelene glycol based coolant may be used.

If your going non-OEM, I like the Prestone extended mileage yellow stuff. I always do a complete fill, not a mix or 'top up'. Also remember, if you dilute to 50/50 yourself, ONLY USE DEIONIZED WATER.

Is the yellow any better than the others, who knows, but at least it's common and very easy to find should you need it in an emergency. I have however used it (long term) in many Toyotas in the past with zero problems. Even in factory Pink filled Toyotas. As a result, I'm confident in it.

Last words, if you can afford Toyota OEM pink, do it and never have to worry or think about it again...

[barryware]

OEM pink it is... Just waiting for my 103 HP engine to cool down after racing anybody who was interested all the way home :smile:

[SilverGlow]

But the coolant is good for 100,000 miles or thereabouts, yea? I read someplace that the cooland in our cars is the toyota "World" something class, and good for nearly forever. I would just stick to Toyota brand for the coolant...you never know what all the ingredients truly are...same for auto tranny fluid too. Don't judge the fluid compatability just on color...I don't think it's that simple.

[PetersRedYaris]

It's true color has no bearing on performance, but Toyota does list all the components in their pink fluid right on the back of the jug, just as every other aftermarket brand does. Must you use Toyota coolant, probably not.

Must you use Toyota type WS auto tranny fluid, absolutely yes. Don't think even for a minute that a synthetic fluid could be a better alternative than Type WS. You will ruin your tranny... For manual transmissions, you have a choice of several fully synthetic fluids that are considered a great upgrade.