Originally Posted by diverscale

Just prepare to get dirty a little and undo the lower radiator hose once it's not fast enough by the drain plug. You'll drain more and it'll go faster

Originally Posted by vonhughes

I am in the process of the first "rinse" with distilled water. Luckily I'm already dirty.

This time the draining is going a lot faster than the first. No idea why, but I'm not complaining. ChrisFix said start it up and give it some gas to have the water pump help vacate the fluids. Not sure I want to do that, but hey, it might make a good story. (and a fine mess...)

Still better than spending $192 at the dealer!

Originally Posted by diverscale

careful with ''rinsing'', as you won't ever get all the water out after the fact. So, calculating your coolant concentration is impossible because you don't know how much water dilluted with coolant is left in there. Just keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by vonhughes

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but my question seemed to jibe with many of the comments in this thread.

Draining the radiator right now on a stone cold engine. It has sat 12+ hours. I've watched all the videos, know the procedure by heart...

I have my container ready and opened the valve on the passenger side and barely anything came out. I'd call it a drizzle at best. I knew there were some risks in opening her all the way, but the suspense was killing me, so I decided to risk it, since I had cardboard underneath and a "tall boy" container to limit the mess.

When I opened her up all the way, to the point I actually removed it, there was an instant gush, which I captured without a mess, then a small stream. 40 minutes later, I am back to a drizzle with only five (5) quarts out, per the marks on the receiving container.

I see about that some people have left it up to an hour. Is this normal?

I do have the radiator cap totally off so air can move around as it needs to and the garage floor is pretty damn level. Not sure it's perfectly level, but it's close.

I know the videos everyone posts are edited for time/content, but man, seems like a quart every eight minutes with the valve totally out is pretty pokey. Am I just being an inpatient radiator drainor?

p.s. Looking inside the radiator cap area, the internals look brand spanking new. Shiny as heck. I know the radiator was replaced about 40K miles ago. Fluid looks orangey color and not so bad. Just draining to prepare for a cross country trip in a couple of weeks.

Originally Posted by vonhughes

Yeah, this made things exciting.

My owner's manual says the capacity for my 2002 (sans rear heater) is 8.5 quarts. I got 8 out during the drain (both the initial coolant drain and the "rinse") so I calculated .5 quart of some fluid left in there that was anywhere from .5 quart of 100% distilled water to some diluted version of distilled water @ .5 quart. I'm assuming it was more water than coolant at that point. I did some guesstimating in Excel and figured I was probably in a ratio range between 52:48 to 48:52, distilled water to Toyota Red.

Originally Posted by Bad Luck

I'm not sure if anyone suggested it or if you are using it, but a spill free funnel and parking on an incline helps a lot with purging all the air from the engine cooling system.

Something like this is what you're looking for: Amazon.com: OEMTOOLS 87009 No-Spill Coolant Funnel Kit, Near Universal Fitment, Translucent, 15 Piece Set, Cooling System Funnel Allows Access To Hard-To-Reach Radiators: Automotive

Originally Posted by vonhughes

One question for anyone who reads this...when the engine is at operating temperature (180+ Fahrenheit) how close to the "FULL" line in the overflow res should it be? After a 15 mile drive today, mine was about dead center between the low line and the full line. Is that enough or should I add a little more into the container to get it up to the top line?

Originally Posted by Bad Luck

I like to fill it to the hot line on the overflow tank after driving for a half hour or so. This way I know for sure where my coolant level is when I recheck it.

Originally Posted by vonhughes

Nice.

Does the overflow tank pressurize like the radiator itself? Just trying to determine when it's reasonable to have the reference point of filling it up when it's hot enough to refill to that line, but not hot enough to turn me into Nikki Lauda.

Originally Posted by diverscale

careful with ''rinsing'', as you won't ever get all the water out after the fact. So, calculating your coolant concentration is impossible because you don't know how much water dilluted with coolant is left in there. Just keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by 3bears

up here we run about 60% +...need to be good to minus 50 in winter