Slightly Low Coolant, Should I Flush or Top It Off

[vaironl]

Hello,

Recently my friend noticed the coolant in my Yaris was a little bit below the line LOW line, but I only have 70k miles so it is not due for a replacement. I want to fill it back to the appropriate level, but am not sure of what type/brand of coolant was put in previously. Any idea of what are the best steps I can take here to avoid any issues? I would have no problem flushing the system, but ideally would like to avoid it.

[komichal]

Buy yourself a mixture with water 1:1 of G12+ (pink one) and pour it in. The brand is not that important.
For a full flush the guys here would recommend to go only with OEM Toyota coolant but if you just need to add a bit then you can use anything. I did a full flush recently and used Sheron as the Toyota stuff costs a fortune while there is no measurable difference.

[vaironl]

Buy yourself a mixture with water 1:1 of G12+ (pink one) and pour it in. The brand is not that important.
For a full flush the guys here would recommend to go only with OEM Toyota coolant but if you just need to add a bit then you can use anything. I did a full flush recently and used Sheron as the Toyota stuff costs a fortune while there is no measurable difference.

Thank you for the advice, gonna get it ASAP! I did notice the Toyota coolant will cost a pretty penny!

[tmontague]

Keep in mind the cooling system in the yaris is not a sealed system so losses due to evaporation do happen. Every year you'll probably find you are down a few ounces

[ex-x-fire]

Hello,

Recently my friend noticed the coolant in my Yaris was a little bit below the line LOW line, but I only have 70k miles so it is not due for a replacement. I want to fill it back to the appropriate level, but am not sure of what type/brand of coolant was put in previously. Any idea of what are the best steps I can take here to avoid any issues? I would have no problem flushing the system, but ideally would like to avoid it.

Check your water pump, sometimes they leak and then stop. You'll likely see a dry crusty stain, red colored.

[vaironl]

Keep in mind the cooling system in the yaris is not a sealed system so losses due to evaporation do happen. Every year you'll probably find you are down a few ounces

Got it, I'll make sure to get the reservoir as close as possible to the full line.

Check your water pump, sometimes they leak and then stop. You'll likely see a dry crusty stain, red colored.

Will be checking for this, thank you for pointing it out. Hopefully, it is just as tmontague said and it was due to evaporation.

[komichal]

I remember once quite a gulp of coolant "disappeared" from my coolant reservoir in one week or so. I poured in some distilled water and it has not moved a bit since then. It is been on the same level over a year already. Who knows why car spitted that out before.

[SirDigby]

^^^yes. top off with distilled water. it's like $0.60 a gallon.

[Kazimodo]

Just make sure what you put in there guys ,
mixing OAT coolant with HOAT coolant makes a reaction turning your coolant to a Jello like substance ==> big troubles getting that removed from Inside engine .