Is it critical to change coolant at 100K?

[RMcG]

Thanks tmontague and johnwk and others,

I just checked the coolant by dipping my fingers in it and rubbing them together and it definitely feels slippery and oily.

Does anybody else have any suggestions as to the best way to dispose of the old coolant? I want to do this in an environmentally sound way.

Does anybody else have any feelings about using distilled water as a rinse as johnwk suggests?

Thanks,

R.

[tmontague]

Originally Posted by RMcG

Thanks tmontague and johnwk and others,

I just checked the coolant by dipping my fingers in it and rubbing them together and it definitely feels slippery and oily.

Does anybody else have any suggestions as to the best way to dispose of the old coolant? I want to do this in an environmentally sound way.

Does anybody else have any feelings about using distilled water as a rinse as johnwk suggests?

Thanks,

R.

Around here our local municipal recycling centers take coolant for free to avoid people being a$$hats and dumping down the drain. Check online, some auto shops will also take it I have heard.

The only issue with adding water to the system to "flush" it is that you will dilute the coolant down below 50/50 as some water will stay in the system that you cannot fully get out. This may not be a problem depending on how cold your winters get. You can buy a tester for cheap to test your coolant when you are done to see what your freezing point is. I personally do this as I use a 10/90 coolant/water mixture in the summer for track use and a 55/45 coolant/water mixture in the winter. I test it to make sure my coolant can handle a bad cold snap throughout the winter.

IMO since you are just replacing Toyota coolant with comparable stuff I don't see a reason to need to flush it out or run water through it. I typically recommending doing that if the car has been given the wrong coolant, or if the coolant looks contaminated with debris or has been in use for way too long.

FWIW most owners never actually change their coolant unless their car breaks down and they need to. Even with this, Toyota's still seem to do well and run ok long term