Is it critical to change coolant at 100K?

[RMcG]

Originally Posted by RMcG

Here is an Amazon link. ? Based on looking at the owner's manual, it looks like it is compatible.

Here below is detailed information on the composition:

Valvoline ZEREX DEX-COOL antifreeze coolant is a patented* carboxylate formulation with a service life of up to five years or 150,000 miles. It incorporates state-of-the-art organic acid technology in an ethylene glycol base for protection of all cooling system metals including aluminum. ZEREX DEX-COOL antifreeze coolant is approved by General Motors to the GM 6277M specification. ZEREX DEX-COOL antifreeze coolant contains no phosphates, silicates, borates, nitrates, amines and nitrites.

The owner's manual says to use Toyota Super Long Life Coolant or a similar high-quality ethylene glycol-based, nonsilicate, non-amine, non-nitrite, and non-borate coolant with long-life hybrid organic acid technology.

It looks like this Zerex formulation meets the requirements, but I am interested in what others think. One of my doubts is that this Zerex formulation is orange and what I have in the car is pink.

Thanks,

R.

[zoidberg444]

I use the long life Toyota coolant mate. I'm to suspicious of other coolant brands to risk it.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[RMcG]

Originally Posted by zoidberg444

I use the long life Toyota coolant mate. I'm to suspicious of other coolant brands to risk it.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

Thanks for your advice Zoidberg. I appreciate your advice. I read about your trek across Scandanavia. It is impressive.

R.

[RMcG]

Originally Posted by johnwk

It wouldn't hurt to run a few gallons of distilled water through the system (following the same drain-fill-drive-drain procedure) before filling it with the new coolant.
.

I plan to use Toyota Brand Coolant, 1 gallon of pre-diluted 50/50 costs about $23 (USD). The capacity of the cooling system is 5.1 quarts, but I think that perhaps much less than 5.1 quarts (perhaps a gallon or less) drains out of the cooling system when you open the plug/stopcock for a standard drain procedure.

So I am thinking that replacing the old coolant with distilled water and running the engine for a few minutes and then draining again (as suggested by johnwk in the quote), would get more of the old coolant out of the system before it degrades.

QUESTION: Does anybody have any comments or suggestions about this?

Thank you,

R.

[tmontague]

As i stated above, this will be fine but you will dilute your new coolant below 50/50 due to the water left in it. Make sure you test your coolant's freezing point once you swap it out

[RMcG]

Originally Posted by tmontague

As i stated above, this will be fine but you will dilute your new coolant below 50/50 due to the water left in it. Make sure you test your coolant's freezing point once you swap it out

Thanks tmontague. I did indeed read your previous post about how you run different dilutions and I am aware that the freezing and boiling points change with dilution. I was more worried, however, about the effect of dilution on the corrosion inhibitors and the lubricants.

I just bought two gallons at the local Toyota dealer, total cost with tax $50 USD. But my worries about corrosion inhibitors and lubricants may be moot, because according to the information on the coolant bottles, the 50/50 freezing point is only -34 degrees Fahrenheit. That is OK where I live now in the Pacific NW of the US, but if I go back to Montana, it is not OK. Because it can get to 40 below in Montana. I will have to call a Toyota dealership back in Montana and ask them what they sell for coolant.

Thanks,

R.

[RMcG]

Originally Posted by RMcG

... my worries about corrosion inhibitors and lubricants may be moot, because according to the information on the coolant bottles, the 50/50 freezing point is only -34 degrees Fahrenheit. That is OK where I live now in the Pacific NW of the US, but if I go back to Montana, it is not OK. Because it can get to 40 below in Montana. I will have to call a Toyota dealership back in Montana and ask them what they sell for coolant..

A busy airport in Montana recorded a temperature of 39 below zero in March of 2019, so this is not an academic consideration. I called a Toyota Dealer in Fairbanks, Alaska, and they use Toyota brand coolant 00272-LLAC01, which is undiluted. (I think this part number is off by one digit, see below.) It costs $30USD. They dilute this 60/40 with distilled water to get a freezing point of 62 below zero.

I think the actual number is Toyota 00272-1LLAC-01, see this amazon link.

I am not sure if this other part number coolant can be delivered to a local Toyota dealer here or not. But I will call tomorrow and find out.

Thanks,

R.

[RMcG]

Originally Posted by tmontague

I found a company (Recochem) that makes various coolant for all different type of manufacturers and the name they brand it with is "OEM". It is sold locally to me and I can buy a pure concentrate that I mix myself with deionized water. I looked up the MSDS and the ingredient are essentially the same as Toyota's. I go with this instead of Toyota's own coolant and it has worked wonderfully for me.

An undiluted OEM Reochem coolant (that is for Toyota, and is compatible with the Yaris according to the website) is sold through Rock Auto, see RECOCHEM 86174POEM

I may buy this as I want to depress the freezing point more than -34 Fahrenheit, and it is also cheaper than the standard pre-diluted Toyota brand 00272-SLLC2 (I think is the correct number). Some websites like Amazon, Ebay and ToyotaPartsDeal.com sell the older undiluted coolant 00272-1LLAC-01 and some Toyota dealerships in cold parts of the US (e.g., Alaska) still stock this older undiluted (00272-1LLAC-01) coolant. These dealerships dilute the 00272-1LLAC-01 coolant 60/40 (coolant/distilled water) to get a freezing point of minus 56 Fahrenheit.

QUESTION: Does anybody have any opinion about whether the (apparently newer) Reochem would be better than the (apparently older) Toyota brand 00272-1LLAC-01 ? They are both undiluted and are about the same price.

Thanks,

R.

[tmontague]

I've used Recochem in diluted in every toyota I have ever owned with zero issues. The ingredients are virtually identical.

I mix my own coolant depending in what car it is going in (60/40 for my sis in laws yaris when she was up North for school, 50/50 for my Vibe and my yaris in the winter and 10/90 with amsoil coolant booster for my yaris during track season

Use it with confidence

[RMcG]

Originally Posted by tmontague

I've used Recochem in diluted in every toyota I have ever owned with zero issues. The ingredients are virtually identical.

I mix my own coolant depending in what car it is going in (60/40 for my sis in laws yaris when she was up North for school, 50/50 for my Vibe and my yaris in the winter and 10/90 with amsoil coolant booster for my yaris during track season

Use it with confidence

I just want to double-check, the dilution recipes call for diluting with "de-ionized water." Most of the de-ionized water sold on Amazon is pretty expensive, e.g., > $20USD per gallon. One of the Toyota dealers I talked to said they used distilled water (much cheaper ~ 1 USD per gallon).

QUESTION: Is using distilled water for dilution OK?

Thanks,

R.

[tmontague]

I used deionized because it is sold at my local Canadian tire but clearly states it is not potable. Distilled will be fine, iirc distilled has a slightly higher amount of dissolver salts still in it but it is a moot amount. Plus your coolant ratio is so high that you could use hard tap water and be fine as the coolant is meant to help with that issue

[fj40dave]

Well.....

I thought the coolant was like the fuel filter: Good for the life of the car......boy, I've been running on borrowed time!

235k on the original coolant for my '08 HB.....no issues!

I did just order the Toyoya 00272-1LLAC-01 ANTIFREEZE GALLON W from the link above.....thank you RMcG!

[RMcG]

Originally Posted by johnwk

It wouldn't hurt to run a few gallons of distilled water through the system (following the same drain-fill-drive-drain procedure) before filling it with the new coolant.
.......

A mini-tip: I found that only unscrewing the radiator drain plug part of the way prevented it from spraying all over the plastic under-engine guard (where it will collect and sit).

If I do decide to run distilled water through the system, how long should I let the system run in order to mix & help get the older coolant out of the system? Ten minutes? 20 minutes? Until the engine is hot?

(I know that there is the potential problem of diluting the coolant, since you cannot get all the distilled water rinse out of the system before you add the new coolant.)

Thanks,

R.

[johnwk]

Originally Posted by RMcG

If I do decide to run distilled water through the system, how long should I let the system run in order to mix & help get the older coolant out of the system? Ten minutes? 20 minutes? Until the engine is hot?

I would drive the car for a few miles, until it's warmed up, with the heat on full blast.

Originally Posted by RMcG

(I know that there is the potential problem of diluting the coolant, since you cannot get all the distilled water rinse out of the system before you add the new coolant.)

If you want, when winter approaches, you can do another quick drain-and-fill, which will reduce the dilution while also renewing a bit of the coolant. There's a very cheap and simple tool for testing the coolant dilution.

[RMcG]

Originally Posted by johnwk

I would drive the car for a few miles, until it's warmed up, with the heat on full blast.

Thanks John. But why is it necessary to put the heat on full blast?

R.

[voxtrot]

Originally Posted by tmontague

Do it yourself in the parking lot - here's how:

Buy a large oil drain pan (or equivalent plastic container) and slide it under the front of the car where the drain petcock in on the bottom drivers side of the rad. Look for a yellow plastic knob, you can reach it from the top of the engine bay. It may be stuck but be careful because you can break it.

Drain the coolant out from this pet cock (remove rad cap to speed this up and make sure coolant is not hot!). This will take 20 mins or so to fully drain, but once it stops draining close the pet cock and re fill with fresh Toyota coolant (50/50 mix) from the rad cap.

Fill until it over flows. Then squeeze both the upper and low rad hoses a few times and if the coolant level drops at the rad cap, re fill until it is at the top.

Keep the rad cap off and start engine. The coolant level will drop, refill it again until it is full and put rad cap back on then turn off engine. Make sure your overflow reservoir is full of coolant to at least the F line if not more.

Turn the car on and go for a drive. 20 minutes in current temps should be enough to get coolant up to operating temps, go for a jaunt on the highway and back.

Get back home and park the car. Check the coolant level in your overflow reservoir, it likely dropped some. Fill it back up to the F mark. Once your coolant is cool enough, remove the rad cap and if the coolant is not at the top then fill it to the top and replace the cap.

Drive the car as your normally would over the next week but after every day check the overflow reservoir and refill it so it is at the "F" mark. After a week of this you no longer need to keep checking it.

The yaris burps the air out of its cooling system very well by itself as the fill neck is properly situated as the highest point in the system. As it burps air itself it will pull coolant from the reservoir tank which is why you need to check it after you drain and refill the system.

Your only potential issue may be needing to use pliers on the drain petcock valve to crack it open. It is easier to do from under the car but can be done from above. Just be cautious not to crack it. Warmer temps help keep the plastic more pliable.

You can easily drain the overflow reservoir by removing the small diameter hose from the radiator fill neck. Once it is removed lower it in the engine bay so that is points into your drain pan. Once it is lower than the outlet on the reservoir, coolant will automatically drain from it.

Hi tmontague I am going to be doing a coolant drain and flush and replace the thermostat on my 2007 Yaris Sedan with Automatic Transmission for the first time. I just recently hit 160k miles and I do not think the coolant has been drained and filled before I bought it used. I am going to be USING THIS
with distilled water. I will buy two gallons to flush or more until it comes out clear. Once it is clear how do you know how much of the concentrate to add with the clean distilled water already inside? Manual says 5 Quarts for Auto.
I don't know if everything comes out in the flush so do you have to wing it a little when adding the rest? Since it is hot here now would it be ok to have a little more distilled water inside radiator or reservoir? I don't want to damage the coolant system or engine since this is my first time doing this. Also worried about the left over air pockets damaging system after.

Thanks

[johnwk]

Originally Posted by RMcG

why is it necessary to put the heat on full blast?

Having the heat on will make the water flow through the heater core, further rinsing out the old coolant. If the system is properly filled, the heat will stay hot through your ride. If it cools off, there's unwanted air in the system.

PS. In my experience, it takes quite a lot of "burping" the upper and lower hoses to get all the air out while filling the system. Squeeze them each slowly and repeatedly until you don't see any more bubbles at the radiator neck. And over the next week or two, double-check the levels at the radiator neck and the overflow tank. If there was air in the system that escaped, you'll need to top off the coolant.

[tmontague]

Originally Posted by voxtrot

Hi tmontague I am going to be doing a coolant drain and flush and replace the thermostat on my 2007 Yaris Sedan with Automatic Transmission for the first time. I just recently hit 160k miles and I do not think the coolant has been drained and filled before I bought it used. I am going to be USING THIS
with distilled water. I will buy two gallons to flush or more until it comes out clear. Once it is clear how do you know how much of the concentrate to add with the clean distilled water already inside? Manual says 5 Quarts for Auto.
I don't know if everything comes out in the flush so do you have to wing it a little when adding the rest? Since it is hot here now would it be ok to have a little more distilled water inside radiator or reservoir? I don't want to damage the coolant system or engine since this is my first time doing this. Also worried about the left over air pockets damaging system after.

Thanks

You won't ever know exactly how much concentrate to add - which is why you always mix a concentrated coolant with water before you add it to the car.

And that is also why I said you can just simply drain and re fill as you likely will not have any benefit of a flush.

If you are set on flushing it, then just run water through it until it comes out clear. Then start adding the coolant that you premixed in other jugs until the rad is full. Over fill the overflow reservoir a bit as well.

Squeeze the rad hoses a bit and you will see the coolant level drop a bit in the radiator. I typically jam a funnel in the radiator fill hole and over fill the funnel and then turn the car on, you will see the level drop a bit and then start to rise as it warms up. Once the car is off it cools and starts dropping. Go back after 30 mins and remove the funnel and top up the rad. Drive your car will an over filled overflow reservoir and check it every day as it will drop as air ir burped out of the system. This will stop after a couple days.

In my experience with various Yaris', they bleed air from the cooling system really well, just make sure the front end is jacked up so the rad cap is the highest point of the engine.

Once this is done you need to buy a tester to make sure the freezing point is well below anything that you will see in your climate. You will have more than enough coolant in there for the summer, but potentially not enough for the winter, depending on your climate. Most of the coolant is removed when you drain the rad, but a slight amount will still be left in there.

FWIW many people say you need the fan to turn on to open the thermostat - this is wrong and a waste of time. The T-stat opens at 180F, well before the fan kicks on (typically 204F). Also the Tstat is not an all or nothing mechanism, it will slowly open just prior to 180F and fully open around 180F. I have successfully bled cooling systems in ambient temps way to cold to get the fans to turn on.

I just finished draining and re filling my Subie Outback and when the fans actually kicked on the coolant level didn't even drop - this is because the Tstat was already wide open well before the fans kick on.