Coolant “Flush”
Use this guide at your own risk and double-check everything - procedure and specifications. The factory service manual can be a great help.
This is not a real coolant flush but it’s good enough for me.
Tools & Supplies – you may not need everything listed:
- Coolant (if you get premixed stuff just remember not to add water)
- Distilled Water (at least 6 gallons)
- Ratchet
- Ratchet extensions
- 10, 12mm sockets
- Funnel
- 5/16” inside diameter tubing
- 5 gallon bucket
1) Put your pets inside. Animals are attracted to ethylene glycol (your coolant) and will want to lick it up. A very small amount of coolant can kill an animal. If your pet does lick up any coolant you need to go to a veterinarian immediately and if you just drained your coolant you hopefully have an extra vehicle on hand. Don’t take any chances. If you are worried about the coolant in your vehicle you can use propylene glycol coolant. Toyota only recommends ethylene and I personally do not know how PG will affect your Toyota. PG is harder to find but can be special ordered at an auto parts store.
Edit - forgot a step. Remove your skid plates. There are 9 bolts to remove.
2) Remove 2 clips from the passenger side wheel well splash guard so you can access the engine drain.
3) Directly through the opening is the drain. Slip your 5/16” I.D. tubing over the drain hole and down to a 5 gallon bucket. Place the bucket right under the radiator stopcock.
4) Use a 12mm deep socket, about 18” of extension bars and a ratchet to loosen up the drain bolt. If your socket is slipping off make sure the extensions are pretty much pushed up against the underside of the upper control arm to give you the best angle. Loosen the bolt until coolant flows through the tubing (tubing is not in place in this picture). Another option is to skip to step 5 first and the reservoir will drain itself through the radiator. Once the reservoir has been sucked dry, open up the engine drain in addition to the radiator drain.
5) Spin the stopcock on the radiator and let the coolant flow into your bucket (now both drains are open at the same time).
6) Time to clean out the coolant reservoir (in front of the battery). Remove the bracket holding the battery in place (12mm socket).
7) Disconnect the hose attaching the reservoir to the radiator. Now pull the reservoir directly up and out. May take some force. Clean out the reservoir.
8) The coolant is probably finished draining out. Reinstall the coolant reservoir. Hook the reservoir hose back up to the radiator. Close the radiator stopcock. Tighten the engine drain bolt but leave your 5/16” tubing in place for now.
9) Remove radiator cap. Fill the radiator with distilled water (about 2 gallons). Leave the radiator cap off and fire up the engine. Turn the heater on hot and high, including the rear heater if so equipped. The level in the radiator will drop so top off if you want. Let the engine run for 5 minutes or so. Turn off the engine.
10) Probably let the engine cool for a while so you’re not draining out really hot water. Open both drain plugs again and drain all the coolant. Close the drain plugs.
11) Repeat steps 9 and 10 one more time. What drained out after the second water fill/drain was a very, very light pink. One more water fill would have been good but I felt it was good enough. Keep doing steps 8 & 9 until the water looks good enough for you.
12) The coolant capacity is 9.5 quarts with the rear heater, 8.5 quarts w/o rear heat. I went with a 50/50 water/coolant mix. Add 1 gallon of coolant to the radiator. Add almost 1 gallon of distilled water to top off the radiator. The reservoir takes about 24 ounces to go from empty to F. I used a 1 quart container to make a small 50/50 mix to fill the reservoir. Fill the reservoir to the F line. Now mix up a quart of 50/50 to have on standby. I like this container made by Rubbermaid that has markings every 4 ounces for easy mixing.
13) Start up the car (radiator cap off) and check for any leaks. Also watch the coolant level drop in the radiator. Took me almost exactly 1 quart of the coolant/water to top off the radiator after starting the engine. Put the radiator cap back on. At this point everything should be back together unless I forgot something here.
14) After driving around recheck your reservoir and add more water/coolant if needed.
15) Put your old coolant into some closed containers and dispose of at a recycle center.
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