change coolant

[yaris9876]

is there a how to on swapping coolant..? how much does it take to fill?
I got 2 gallons today..
Also need a how to on changing the serpentine belt...got one for 12$
today. Dealer wanted 70 to do it. Idiots.
1.5 Liter hatchback with AC

[YarisSedan]

DIY coolant service.

Tools needed: Container to catch old coolant
Supplies: Genuine toyota antifreeze, distilled water.

Step 1 remove radiator cap.
Step 2 remove drain valve on bottom of radiator by twisting it counter clockwise and drain coolant.
Step 3 tighten drain valve by turning clockwise till snug.
Step 4 fill radiator back with a mixture of coolant/water 50/50.
Step 5 run vehicle with radiator cap off till air burps from system and cooling fan cycles.
Step 6 put back on radiator cap.
Step 7 wash hands.

[SilverGlow]

Originally Posted by yaris9876

is there a how to on swapping coolant..? how much does it take to fill?
I got 2 gallons today..
Also need a how to on changing the serpentine belt...got one for 12$
today. Dealer wanted 70 to do it. Idiots.
1.5 Liter hatchback with AC

How many miles does your Yaris have? I think the replacement of coolant is not required until 100,000 or more miles....

[yaris9876]

170K

[ddongbap]

Originally Posted by YarisSedan

DIY coolant service.

Tools needed: Container to catch old coolant
Supplies: Genuine toyota antifreeze, distilled water.

Step 1 remove radiator cap.
Step 2 remove drain valve on bottom of radiator by twisting it counter clockwise and drain coolant.
Step 3 tighten drain valve by turning clockwise till snug.
Step 4 fill radiator back with a mixture of coolant/water 50/50.
Step 5 run vehicle with radiator cap off till air burps from system and cooling fan cycles.
Step 6 put back on radiator cap.
Step 7 wash hands.

So don't forget to drain it in the storm drain righte?

[swidd]

Is there any horrible consequences to running 100% coolant fluid, and not mix it with distilled water?

[Rick]

Yes, most would consider the consequences horrible. You can buy some brands of coolant that are premixed if that helps any.

[RedRide]

Originally Posted by swidd

Is there any horrible consequences to running 100% coolant fluid, and not mix it with distilled water?

Yes there are. For one thing, antifreeze will leak in places where plain water wont. The higher the concentration of antifreez, the more likely you could have a leak somwhere.

BTW, I don't know of any dealer or independant garage that actally uses distilled water when replacing antifreez so, the earth will still be in it's orbit if you use clean, plain tap water.

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by RedRide

Yes there are. For one thing, antifreeze will leak in places where plain water wont. The higher the concentration of antifreez, the more likely you could have a leak somwhere.

BTW, I don't know of any dealer or independant garage that actally uses distilled water when replacing antifreez so, the earth will still be in it's orbit if you use clean, plain tap water.

[raises hand]

Uses distilled water, even Culligan's filtered water at times, but getting away from mixing full strength antifreeze and using only premixed now because it's easier.

[yaris-me]

Originally Posted by swidd

Is there any horrible consequences to running 100% coolant fluid, and not mix it with distilled water?

There is no horrible consequence for not adding distilled water to 50% of mix. Water is a better transfer medium for heat energy. Anti-freeze is exactly that, anti-freeze. In winter water will freeze at 32 deg F, anti-freeze prevents freezing well below 0 deg. Running only anti-freeze will reduce the efficiency of your cooling system, especially during summer, because of a lower boiling point.

[Rick]

Pure ethylene glycol (100% coolant fluid) will freeze at 10F. It will boil at 384F. It will also reduce the cooling capacity of your cooling system by about 20% compared to a 50% blend with water.

The corrosive chlorine blended into most tap water is the biggest reason they say not to use tap water.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/et...col-d_146.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol

[Loren]

Having owned my share of crappy old used cars, I never put anything other than distilled water (and anti-freeze) in my car. It's like 99 cents per gallon, you'll need maybe a gallon. Worth it.

The reasons for not using tap water include chemicals, but for me, it's more a matter of the minerals in your tap water. You don't need all of that sediment and potential lime calcification in your cooling system.

As for the belt and the dealer's $70 replacement of it vs. a $12 parts store belt... YMMV, but I've had several cars (Saturn, Miata and MX-6 that I can think of) that suffered from terminal belt squeal on cold starts with cheap parts store belts. A good OE belt might cost 3x as much, but it's a much higher quality belt and eliminates such problems. Your Toyota belt lasted you 170,000 miles...

[total]

hi my coolant indicator stays on but green ,do you think that there is something wrong please help

[swidd]

At $22.70 per gallon, I only bought one gallon! The manual says it should take a little more than one gallon.

How can I drain it in a way that leaves like 1/8 of the fluid in there? Would it be okay to only open the drain valve on the bottom of the radiator, run it for a few seconds to let the water pump squeeze fluid out of the hoses, and then fill it up and call it a day? I don't think it can be necessary to do a flush or anything like that... What do you guys think?

[Loren]

That's one of those things that if I'm going to bother doing it, I'm going to do it thoroughly.

I'd pop the radiator drain and let it drain. Search the manual and see if there's a drain plug you can remove on the engine block. If not, you're probably not going to get more than maybe 2/3 of the coolant out via the radiator, anyway.

After draining, put the plug back in and fill with distilled water. Go for a drive, get the car fully warmed up to be sure the thermostat is open and you've flowed that water throughout the whole system and at least diluted the remaining old coolant.

Let the car cool a little so you don't scald yourself, then drain again. If you're really anal, refill with water and repeat the above again. By the time you're done doing it a second time, you should have most of the old coolant out of the system. You'll also have a pretty good idea of how much coolant you're draining out of the radiator vs. the full capacity of the system.

After your final drain, put the plug back in and fill with your new coolant. If that's not enough, you don't need to buy another gallon, just top it off with distilled water.

FWIW, most modern coolants are good for at least 5 years regardless of mileage. Your 2007 is probably good for another year or so on the factory coolant.

[bronsin]

On my ECHO draining the coolant with just the radiator drain got all of it out. I measured what came out and compared it with the published figures.

[Loren]

Originally Posted by bronsin

On my ECHO draining the coolant with just the radiator drain got all of it out. I measured what came out and compared it with the published figures.

Interesting. Score one for Toyota! Actually, they probably based their "coolant capacity" on the amount that you could drain out rather than the full capacity of the system. I'd still give the system a rinse with some fresh water. Distilled water is cheap, why not?

[swidd]

Thanks Loren!