Coolant Service

[yaris-me]

You don't have to drain the block. Warm the engine, then open the drain plug on the bottom of the radiator. When the flow slows, close drain and with the engine running, fill the radiator with water. Run the engine till it warms up and drain the water. Repeat two more times then let as much water drain out. Use undiluted antifreeze and add half of cooling liquid capacity. Run engine and fill with water till full.

[1stToyota]

If you want it simple and clean, drain the block along with the radiator. No flushing, draining, running, draining required. Just drain block and radiator into a pan, then refill with about 2 gallons of pre-mix...tap water isn't good for the system. And refill with the engine off. You should be able to get most of the 2 gallons in with the initial refill, before you top-off with the engine running.

[socko]

Where is the coolant drain plug on the engine block? Anyone have a photo?

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by socko

Where is the coolant drain plug on the engine block? Anyone have a photo?

It almost looks like an outside water spigot/faucet...just loosen the head of the bolt and fluid will come out of the cute little spout. You probably can also add about 2 feet of hose (guessing 5/16ths I.D.) to make the job less messy. Block drain is roughly in the middle of the engine block (iirc), firewall-side.

[N9QGS]

I will take a picture of it tomorrow, I did the job today, it wasn't the results I expected. Some things were easier, some more difficult. I will share my story and thanks for everyones help.

I put the car up on the ramps, and first went looking for this engine block drain, after finding something that looked like what it could be I staired at the repair manual and confirmed the shape, yes it looks like a spigot outside your house. so I got my drain pan and removed all the moulding so I had better access to the yellow drain plug and can get a pan up to it, after tunring it slowly coolant came out a drain tube, this blew me away I did not relized it worked that way I thought the yellow plug was gonna come off and coolant was gonna come at a fast pace.

So I let this drain for about 10 minutes, its very slow to come out, after a minute i opened the top radiator cap. after this stopped draining I tightend the yellow plug and moved to the rear of the engine and I will tell you I had a socket and its very difficult to get at this bolt that you have to loosen. I eventually got the socket on there and then from the top of engine reached in and got the socket to the side and had a little more play as was able to loosen it enough that it started to drain, but I got less then a 1/2 cup out of the engine block, almost wasn't worth the trouble. I then tightened that back up and I filled the radiator all the way up, and ran for a few minutes and continued adding a little to retop. I eventually put the radiator cap and drove for 10 minutes it pulled some fluid in from the overflow, I let cool and then took the cap off, and topped again, ran engine and let it burp a little, it didnt do much anymore, and then I tightened it again and it appears to be fine, I drove coolant temp on scangauge same as normal, and I will check in morning to see it is still topped off and consider the job done. So in my case I used less than one galloon. not what I was expecting from what some of you suggested.

So what I am gonna do knowing that you don't have to remove anything to drain the radiator itself, I think I will do just a radiator drain and refill in another 30K and then at 150K I may consider trying this flush process or have someone else do it if I find that I shoudl be getting more fluid out :-) I am using Toyota premixed coolant.

Ron

[devinlamothe]

I have a question regarding the coolant. I have just over 100,000km and my coolant is at the LOW line. Can I just buy some premix from Toyota and top it up? Or should I get it flushed?

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by devinlamothe

I have a question regarding the coolant. I have just over 100,000km and my coolant is at the LOW line. Can I just buy some premix from Toyota and top it up? Or should I get it flushed?

A top off right now is probably good enough. Or you could get it checked first with a test strip to see what condition your coolant was in.

[PolarWhite]

According to outside source, AAA and Car Care Aware Council, the #1 cause of mechanical breakdowns is cooling system failure. I only drive about 8500 miles per year. With that in mind, how long would it take to put 100k on my Yaris. Why anyone would wait for 10 years to change the antifreeze is beyond me. Maintenance is everything on any kind of equipment if you want it to last. I have seen many cars with rusted out heater cores, engine blocks and eaten up radiators because they weren't ever maintained. Why would Toyota care if you waited til your Yaris was 10 years old to change the antifreeze, does anyone here have a 10 year warranty. Hopefully your radiator will rust and fall out and you will go back to them for your new radiator. All antifreeze has additives such as rust inhibitors and corrosion inhibitors, those wear out just like the additive package in oil does. When those inhibitors are gone, you have basically water left. What happens if you put water in a metal bucket and leave it for 10 years? Just a thought to ponder.

[DerFlosser]

Originally Posted by PolarWhite

According to outside source, AAA and Car Care Aware Council, the #1 cause of mechanical breakdowns is cooling system failure. I only drive about 8500 miles per year. With that in mind, how long would it take to put 100k on my Yaris. Why anyone would wait for 10 years to change the antifreeze is beyond me. Maintenance is everything on any kind of equipment if you want it to last. I have seen many cars with rusted out heater cores, engine blocks and eaten up radiators because they weren't ever maintained. Why would Toyota care if you waited til your Yaris was 10 years old to change the antifreeze, does anyone here have a 10 year warranty. Hopefully your radiator will rust and fall out and you will go back to them for your new radiator. All antifreeze has additives such as rust inhibitors and corrosion inhibitors, those wear out just like the additive package in oil does. When those inhibitors are gone, you have basically water left. What happens if you put water in a metal bucket and leave it for 10 years? Just a thought to ponder.

Agreed but that was when things were actually made of metal. Now everything is made of plastic.

[yaris2007_22]

Where exactly is the engine drain block plug to drain coolant out of the engine. I have 2007 yaris. All I see is the drain cock for the radiator which can be seen on top of the hood.

[Kazimodo]

Well , this thread has been dead for 2 years ...
...but there were some interesting questions in it ,
..
from the service manual on pdf , they say to
empty the radiator , removing cap and loosening
the cock on the cylinder head , no mention of the
"bottom of engine spigot / faucet " ,
and if N9QGs did the job right ,
half a cup of old coolant left in the
engine is not worth the trouble .maybe he didn't loosen
the cock on cylinder head , from what he wrote he even
took radiator cap " off "after a minute of slow flow ...
wonder if engine would have given more milk (coolant)
if the top cock were loosened ?????
.
I'm at 145,000 Km , after 7 years , would not want to
rush this job for nothing ,since it is written that the
original coolant is good for 120 months ,(10 years WOW )
and 160,000Km .

[Klink10]

Originally Posted by yaris2007_22

Where exactly is the engine drain block plug to drain coolant out of the engine. I have 2007 yaris. All I see is the drain cock for the radiator which can be seen on top of the hood.

It's on the back side of the block, down low. You will have to get under the car to get to it.

[auxmike]

It looks like a tap on a barrel. It's tricky to turn and is brass. Wasn't worth the effort involved for what came out.
Full antifreeze change at 54k miles.

[bronsin]

Just FYI

I changed the coolant on my 2001 ECHO just by the radiator drain. I dont remember the capacity but whatever the OM said that is what came out the radiator drain.

Comments? Did I FU?