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Old 09-03-2019, 03:00 PM   #1
sven337
 
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Coolant change on 2007 D4D Yaris - want to be sure I don't mess up

Hi,
I've consulted earlier threads on coolant change.
My Yaris (NLP90L-CHMGXW) has 190 000km and the coolant was never changed. I noticed it was below the "LOW" level a few days back, although it's still running well I'll obviously need to top up... but if I'm going to buy coolant, I might as well replace the existing one since that is supposedly overdue.

I'm trying to locate the radiator drain petcock, which lots of people say are on the right of the radiator. From the top of the car I can reach with my hand at the center of the radiator a part that feels a lot like the 16400 on this schema of my car http://www.japan-parts.eu/EU/2/162522D.png
Except it's way more to the center than it appears on the drawing. I can touch this part, the shape feels correct, but I don't think I could undo it from the top.

Under the car, there's a plastic part that covers most of the area, but there's a hole through it that shows what I think is the drain hole for the radiator, but I'm not fully sure. I'd like confirmation, please!
Attaching picture of the drain hole. Hoping it's not the AC. It kind of feels like I might be touching the AC condenser not the actual radiator :(

In terms of procedure, am I right to think I can probably do this without lifting the car? It looks like I won't be able to undo (and redo) the petcock from the top, because I can *barely* reach it with my fingers so if I were to go in with pliers I would likely just destroy it. So I'll have to go from under, removing the underside which I think I can do without lifting the car. And then reach the petcock and apply the documented procedure here.

Can anyone confirm that I did locate the right elements and that what I'm thinking of doing sounds fine?
I don't want to empty the gearbox by mistake or anything. :)

(Interestingly it also looks like changing the oil might be done without lifting the car... if so that is pretty cool.)

Also, what coolant should I get? You americans seem to care about 1-actually doing the coolant change (mechanics here seem to say it doesn't matter) 2-using genuine Toyota coolant
Do I need to buy it from Toyota?

Thanks!
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Old 09-03-2019, 07:55 PM   #2
Brighton
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I haven't done the coolant change in my car yet so I can't speak to the procedure of this specific car. But the procedure is basically all the same, open the drain or remove lower hose, refill the engine and reservoir, let the car idle with the heat blowing on maximum and with the radiator cap open and keep adding coolant as needed until the cars either full or up to operating temp, and then repeat the process as necessary. Also the picture you linked looks like the mount for the radiator, not the drain plug. Normally the plug looks like a plastic wing nut and sticks out towards the engine (not sure if that helps)
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Old 09-04-2019, 02:12 AM   #3
sven337
 
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I'm pretty sure the mount is next to it, and it is a screw. This is a little pipe, there's a hole in the center, so it has to be for draining something. AC water or radiator I don't know. :)
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Old 09-04-2019, 10:44 AM   #4
Brighton
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Oh, it's hard to tell from the picture. The only thing that'd have a drain in the front of the car would be the radiator so it's safe to say that's what it is. Those plastic petcocks are usually really fragile and if you can't loosen it by hand, don't try anything else because if the threads get damaged or something, you're looking at replacing the radiator or doing a questionable repair.
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Old 09-04-2019, 12:36 PM   #5
sven337
 
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Another picture from the front of the car where the little spout can be seen. I've verified that the petcock is right above it so it has to be the radiator drain.
I hope I can undo the petcock by hand from above, but it looks like it might be very hard. Maybe I can buy a new petcock (they're cheap) just in case I break it? But I doubt I'll be able to break it by hand with the position it requires.
Going from under the car looks like significantly more work.
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Old 09-04-2019, 01:27 PM   #6
Brighton
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You can normally buy replacement petcocks if it breaks, knowing toyota, I'm sure they offer a replacement part.
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Old 09-04-2019, 07:38 PM   #7
B.B._07
 
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When I changed the coolant on my Yaris I turned the drain petcock by grabbing it with a set of pliers, it distributes the force and minimizes the chance of breaking it. You could do the job without lifting the car but it will be very cramped to get a drain pan under the car, and bleeding the air out of the system goes faster if the car is on an incline. An alternative to lifting the car is getting or borrowing a set of ramps. You don't need to buy the Toyota pink coolant, any of the modern OAT based universal coolants will work fine. Don't worry if the colour of the coolant you get doesn't match the factory pink, coolant (or ethylene glycol) is naturally clear and is then dyed whatever colour the OE consumer or the manufacturer desires.
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Old 09-07-2019, 10:27 AM   #8
sven337
 
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This is very easy to do on this car. I managed to open the petcock from the top of the engine compartment with a limited amount of force and almost without scratching my arm. Didn't have to lift the car, the pan fit under the car with room to spare.
It was so easy that I took the time to re-fill with distilled water then drained again, to help flush a little better.

Now I'm waiting for the engine to cool down before re-opening the reservoir to fill it up again, since it dropped from "B" to under "LOW" kind of quickly (engine temp stayed < 93°C throughout). Next time maybe I should do the engine warmup without the cap on.
Went for another ride today after filling up the reservoir again, and this time temp maxed out at 83° and the reservoir is still at "F" after coming back, so I think I'm good.

Last edited by sven337; 09-08-2019 at 05:20 AM.
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