Antifreeze Type

C

caredden

New member
Excuse the question, but I have searched.

Do I have absolutely have to use the red antifreeze that Toyota sells, or is it safe to use traditional green antifreeze? When I did my timing belt and water pump a few years ago (shortly after I purchased the vehicle), I used the red and I remember it being pretty pricey. Plus, I could only purchase it from Toyota.

I am looking to do a flush soon, so I am looking at my options.

Appreciate your input.

Charlie

If it matters: 2001 SR-5 3.4 liter
 
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caredden said:
Excuse the question, but I have searched.

Do I have absolutely have to use the red antifreeze that Toyota sells, or is it safe to use traditional green antifreeze? When I did my timing belt and water pump a few years ago (shortly after I purchased the vehicle), I used the red and I remember it being pretty pricey. Plus, I could only purchase it from Toyota.

I am looking to do a flush soon, so I am looking at my options.

Appreciate your input.

Charlie

If it matters: 2001 SR-5 3.4 liter
Click to expand...

I've been using the regular green stuff for a while now with no leakage and no overheating. It should be fine. :bigok:
 
I'm one of those annoying "Nothing but OEM" guys...put my vote down for Genuine Toyota Stuff.


I'm a toyota tech also, PM me and ask me about the effed up cars I've seen with green coolant in them...



Bottom line...is your (MSRP) $30k truck worth risking to save $10 a gallon on coolant?
 
nothing but red in any of my toyota products ....I have heard from a few sources that the green and red mix do not do good things, but i've never tested it before. Maybe i should ...
 
caredden said:
Excuse the question, but I have searched.

Do I have absolutely have to use the red antifreeze that Toyota sells, or is it safe to use traditional green antifreeze? When I did my timing belt and water pump a few years ago (shortly after I purchased the vehicle), I used the red and I remember it being pretty pricey. Plus, I could only purchase it from Toyota.

I am looking to do a flush soon, so I am looking at my options.

Appreciate your input.

Charlie

If it matters: 2001 SR-5 3.4 liter
Click to expand...

I would continue using the Red Toyota coolant. The Red coolant is formulated especially for our water pumps. You need only 2 jugs at the most and you're mixing with water anyways.
 
shootmymime said:
DONT USE RED!!! IT BREAKS DOWN AND CLOTS UP!
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Do you have any basis for this? Toyota has been using it for over a decade...and I've been working on Toyotas for a little over 5 years, and never saw any problem arise from the red Genuine Toyota Coolant, as long as it's changed at proper intervals.
 
Mix Toyota RED only.

The Red has no silicates. If you add some of the green/yellow WITH silicates it will ruin the anticorrosion properties of the old coolant and lose the properties of the new as well. This will cause scale buildup through the cooling system and possibly a water pump leak or failure.

I am replacing my radiator, hoses, etc with my water pump so I can switch to Toyota Pink (Super long life), that is even better than the RED and comes premixed.

If you were to buy something at the store, look for "extended life" coolant that has NO SILICATES, this should mix fine.
 
I just stick w/ the OEM Toyota Coolant.

With this 3% annual inflation rate and Prestone being already pricey, OEM Toyota Coolant isn't that much more.

I found out that Super Long Life is nothing but a premixed Long Life.

Just like Honda Type 1 vs Type 2...Type 2 is just premixed.

I rather just buy the Long Life & mix it myself, I get double the amount.
 
LINY4Runner Do you have any basis for this? Toyota has been using it for over a decade...and I've been working on Toyotas for a little over 5 years, and never saw any problem arise from the red Genuine Toyota Coolant, as long as it's changed at proper intervals.
Click to expand...


DavidAlexander The Red has no silicates. If you add some of the green/yellow WITH silicates it will ruin the anticorrosion properties of the old coolant and lose the properties of the new as well. This will cause scale buildup through the cooling system and possibly a water pump leak or failure.
Click to expand...


explained well, if it is not changed like it should be, (because maintenance is not something keep track of like us mechanics do) it will break down and clot up when it gets oxygen, have u ever seen the white crustys around a leaky water pump or overflow tank? thats what im talking about... and it will clot up in the radiator and ever worse the heater core, thats why i only use green.
 
I bought a gallon of Toyota Red antifreeze and a gallon of Prestone Green anitfreeze and messed up and left the both in the sun in the summer time and what happened was the Toyota Red bottle was sweating(condesateing) and the bottle itself was cool,while the Prestone green bottle didn't do anything but get hot..

So my vote is for the Toyota Red all the way..Well worth the few xtra dollars now.
 
shootmymime said:
explained well, if it is not changed like it should be, (because maintenance is not something keep track of like us mechanics do) it will break down and clot up when it gets oxygen, have u ever seen the white crustys around a leaky water pump or overflow tank? thats what im talking about... and it will clot up in the radiator and ever worse the heater core, thats why i only use green.
Click to expand...

I have never heard of that, the white crustys is when the coolant drips and dries up drips and dries up and so on. I have never had those crust deposits INSIDE a Toyota cooling system.

Even if in a scenario where they do end of inside the cooling system, it will dissolve instantaneously in the coolant.
 
If it makes you feel any better, I just drove about 1500 miles on the green coolant, 400 of which were in the mountains where I was pushing 4000 rpms and sometimes 5000 rpms most of the time. Hell, driving back from Vail today for the first 15 miles I was in second gear at 5k+ rpms for about 4 minutes... temp gauge never budged and hasn't leaked a drop of coolant. :bigok:


Mainting 70MPH in the mountains with a 184 HP engine is a royal pain, lol
 
If you have flushed and have only green or only red you should be fine. If you have mixed, you have compromised the solution and won't see affects of buildup for 10k or more. It will not hinder the cooling capability until the circulation is made less and less by more and more buildup.

Think of it like a pipe in your house that gets clogged with buildup, that is what your radiator will be like in a couple years. Not to mention all the other metal parts that were not protected.

Also a TSB states that the pink is compatible with the red but they are not the same composition.

The red is a normal OAT antifreeze and the pink is a HOAT antifreeze because it has phosphate added to it.
 
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I recommend against green coolant for use if the original coolant is Toyota red. Even if someone has driven many miles on mountain passes or flat plains without any problems with the green, I recommend against it. Why?

Seals & gaskets. Toyota engineers used certain seals/gaskets with certain material properties. They then match up a coolant against the material properties of the seals/gaskets. The red coolant is what they designed for so it is prudent to conform to that original spec. The green may not produce any issues after one mile or even after tens of thousands of miles, but you are playing with Russian Roulette when it comes to long term exposure of the seals against a coolant type not designed for. This material compatibility design philosophy applies to all types and makes of engines, not just Toyotas. Stick with the red or with a red that has the same properties as the OEM red coolant. Don't play Russian Roulette with your investment.

If it lends any credibility to my post, I am a mechanical engineer with 2 dozen years experience working with thermal cooling issues for a high tech global company.
 
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