Coolant Flush Help

[r32]

Ok it's time to flush the coolant. I'm over 110k. 1GR-FE V6 engine on 2008.

Following the official Toyota 1GR-FE COOLING – COOLANT pdf, four things are perplexing me about this process.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/attac.../7457d1131245657-coolant-change-v6-2003-3.pdf

Q1. For the life of me I cannot locate the upper and lower drain plugs on the Engine. The diagram on that PDF doesn't even look like my engine. There is the V-Bank Cover, then the Air Cleaner Assembly, then the Fuel Injectors. Step (a) in the pdf says "Remove the service hole cover from the engine under cover." Um...what? That sentence doesn't make sense to me.

Q2. Step (f) states "Drain the coolant from the reservoir tank." Should I use a hand pump to get this out or will it drain down on its own?

Q3. Many people online, including tutorials on YouTube state to fill the system with water and then drain the water before putting in the new coolant. However, nowhere on the official pdf from Toyota does it say to do this. Should I avoid the distilled water rinse?

Q4. Where is the coolant sensor? I can't find it, unless perhaps I'm just not recognizing it. There are quite a few sensors.

Picked up 2 gallons of 50/50 Toyota Super Long Life (SLLC) Engine Coolant from the dealership, got some protective gloves, vinyl tubing from the hardware store, a 5 gallon drain bucket, rags, and a funnel. Let's do this! Just as soon as I locate the drain plugs.

Ref links I've read:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/150025-what-truth-about-coolant-flush.html

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/maintenance-detailing/83044-4th-generation-coolant-drain-fill.html

http://www.toyotaparts.metro-toyota.com/ENGINE_COOLANT_COLOR_CHANGE_T-PG010-02.pdf

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/32824-procedure-flushing-cooling-system-help-please.html

Updated to add pictures of the difficult-to-find petcocks. The drawing from Toyota makes it look like there are two petcocks on the driver's side, but there is one petcock valve on each side of the engine. The drivers side petcock is accessed through the drivers side wheel well with the wheel still on. This guy attaches the ratchet/socket through the wheel well, then moves himself to above the engine (under the hood) to actually do the cranking of the ratchet to loosen. He also left the ratchet on the bolt to avoid having to find the bolt again when tightening.

Pictures of location of petcock valves
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-correct-way-to-drain-fill-the-4-0-antifreeze.88414/page-3

Drivers side location of petcock drain for engine coolant
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IZeIkEyaECE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Passenger side location of petcock drain for engine coolant
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h32p9au2s08" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[BlackWorksInc]

A1- Look on the side of engine block for the coolant petcocks, they have a 10mm nut you need to loosen.

A2- Use a 10mm socket and ratchet to remove the reservoir from the radiator and dump it out, or you could pump it out; whichever is easier to you.

A3- I wouldn't worry about it that much.

A4- Why do you need to know where the coolant sensor is?

 

[r32]

A1- Look on the side of engine block for the coolant petcocks, they have a 10mm nut you need to loosen.

A2- Use a 10mm socket and ratchet to remove the reservoir from the radiator and dump it out, or you could pump it out; whichever is easier to you.

A3- I wouldn't worry about it that much.

A4- Why do you need to know where the coolant sensor is?

Thanks BlackWorksInc! Greatly appreciated for the help. Love the A4 answering a question with a question. :lmao:

I wanted to test the temperature sensor resistance with my multi meter to see how well it matches up with acceptable range from Toyota's graph. Always trying to learn something new about my vehicle and vehicles in general and figured since I'll be in there messing with the coolant stuff, it would be a good time to see what else I can learn.

BTW, this your company? Blackworks Racing BWR Great looking products and set up. Is that a five axis mill?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Thanks BlackWorksInc! Greatly appreciated for the help. Love the A4 answering a question with a question. :lmao:

I wanted to test the temperature sensor resistance with my multi meter to see how well it matches up with acceptable range from Toyota's graph. Always trying to learn something new about my vehicle and vehicles in general and figured since I'll be in there messing with the coolant stuff, it would be a good time to see what else I can learn.

BTW, this your company? Blackworks Racing BWR Great looking products and set up. Is that a five axis mill?

I don't own or run a company at the moment. BlackWorksRacing is just a really cool performance shop that's existed long before I decided on this user name (that 5-axis mill is sexy...)

Black Works was mostly to refer to "out of the box/radical" thinking you find in programs such as Lockheed's Skunk Works or often mythical "Black Budget" projects like Aurora.That sort of "we're not bound by the norm/reason, the crazier the idea the better" as I'm usually tinkering with anything I touch and/or always modifying stuff. The "Inc" just roughly implies the "Black Works" projects are incorporated under one skull...

Maybe one day I'll make a company out of the weird ideas I have, I'd like that... but for now I'm just the weird guy with no life on the forums.

Post Note-

Coolant Temp Sensor appears to be on the back side of the engine block? At least according to the parts location in the FSM.

 

[07V8]

Do you have the procedure for the V8?

 

[r32]

Do you have the procedure for the V8?

Coolant flush for 2UZ-FE (V8)
http://4runnerclub.com/i/4r_files/f...toyrm/07toypdf/07rmsour/4runnerr/01800210.pdf

 

[r32]

I can't get my skit plate off. Bolts are tighter than a mofo. Going to have to go to the store to get some spray or something.

In case the PDF link from the Repair Manual ever stops working, here is the info cut-and-paste (with manual cleanup) for the 1GR-FE engine (V6)

1GR-FE COOLING – COOLANT CO–3

COOLANT REPLACEMENT
1. DRAIN ENGINE COOLANT

CAUTION:
To avoid the danger of being burned, do not remove the radiator cap while the engine and radiator are still hot. Thermal expansion will cause hot engine coolant and steam to blow out from the radiator.

(a) Remove the service hole cover from the engine under cover.
(b) Install a vinyl hose onto the drain on the radiator side.
(c) Fix the vinyl hose with tape.
(d) Loosen the 3 drain plugs on the engine and radiator, and drain the coolant.
(e) Remove the radiator cap.
(f) Drain the coolant from the reservoir tank.
(g) Tighten the 3 drain plugs. - Torque: 13 N*m (130 kgf*cm, 9 ft.*lbf) for the engine
(h) Remove the vinyl hose from the radiator.

2. ADD ENGINE COOLANT

(a) Pour coolant into the radiator until it overflows.

[Transmission Type] [Capacity]
Manual Transmission 9.4 liters (9.9 Us qts, 8.3 Imp. qts)
Automatic Transmission 9.8 liters (10.4 Us qts, 8.6 Imp. qts)

NOTICE:
Do not substitute plain water for engine coolant.

HINT:
• Use of improper coolants may damage the engine cooling system.
• Use only TOYOTA SLLC or similar high quality ethylene glycol based non-silicate, non-amine, non-nitrite, and non-borate coolant with long-life hybrid organic acid technology (coolant with long-life hybrid organic acid technology consists of a combination of low phosphates and organic acids).
• New TOYOTA vehicles are filled with TOYOTA SLLC (color is pink, premixed ethylene glycol concentration is approximately 50 % and freezing temperature is -35°C (-31°F)). When replacing the coolant, TOYOTA SLLC is recommended.

(b) Check the coolant level inside the radiator by squeezing the inlet and outlet radiator hoses several times by hand. If the coolant level goes down, add coolant.
(c) Install the radiator cap securely.
(d) Slowly pour coolant into the radiator reservoir until it reaches the FULL line.
(e) Warm up the engine until the cooling fan operates.
(e1) Set the air conditioning as follows while warming up the engine.
(e2) Maintain the engine speed at 2,000 to 2,500 rpm and warm up the engine until the cooling fan operates.

NOTICE:
• Make sure that the radiator reservoir still has some coolant in it.
• Pay attention to the needle of the water temperature meter. Make sure that the needle does not show an abnormally high temperature.
• If there is not enough coolant, the engine may burn out or overheat.

(f) Squeeze the inlet and outlet radiator hoses several times by hand while warming up the engine to bleed the air.

CAUTION:
When pressing the radiator hoses:
• Wear protective gloves.
• Be careful as the radiator hoses are hot.
• Keep your hands away from the fan.

(g) Stop the engine and wait until the coolant cools down.
(h) Remove the radiator cap and check the coolant level inside the radiator.
(i) If the coolant level is below the full level, repeat the operation until the coolant level remains at the full level.
(j) Check the coolant level inside the radiator reservoir tank again. If it is below the full level, add coolant.

3. CHECK FOR ENGINE COOLANT LEAKAGE

(a) Fill the radiator with coolant and attach a radiator cap tester.
(b) Pump it to 177 kPa (1.8 kgf/cm2 25.7 psi), then check for leakage.

 

[97hb]

Q2. Step (f) states "Drain the coolant from the reservoir tank." Should I use a hand pump to get this out or will it drain down on its own?

Leave the reservoir hooked and don't remove the radiator cap and open bottom drain valve on radiator. It will syphon the coolant right out of the tank. And I've never drained the block, if you break one of those fittings on the block you are going to have some fun. I've seen them break, maybe not on iron blocks but definitely aluminum blocks.

 

[r32]

For other newbies that may attempt this, hopefully my experience helps them. It went ok, but not exactly to plan.

Notes
First off, I was/am still confused on following the exact instructions from Toyota which makes it sound like you're supposed to open all the valves at the same time and drain everything at once from only the valve at the bottom of the radiator which must be considered the low point. I did not follow this pdf exactly, as another post I saw said to drain all three drains separately. Here is how my experience went.

1. Yesterday I went to the hardware store and bought some vinyl tubing with an Interior Diameter (ID) of 1/4" because I thought this is what you need to place over the petcock valves. What I discovered is that the clear vinyl tubing is so strong, you can't jam onto the valve. Additionally, the 2' section I bought from the store wasn't long enough as the two drains on the engine block require a tube closer to 3' long. So I went back to the store today and bought a 3' section of 3/8" ID tubing. Of course this was too big of a tube but I made it work.

2. Started by removing the protective rubber plug from the access hole on the skid plate directly under the petcock valve at the bottom of the radiator on the drivers side. Then I stuck the tube up onto the valve and used duck tape to tape the tubing to the skid plate so it wouldn't move around.

3. Next I tried opening the petcock by turning it by hand. It was stuck. It's a plastic valve handle that is really small and there isn't enough room in there to get a pair of pliers at a good angle. So I took a pair of needle-nose pliers and turned it carefully with a tight grip as far as I could go which was about 30 deg before handles of pliers hit edge of something. That was enough to force the rest of the way with my fingers and immediately the pink coolant started to pour out of the radiator. I waited about 5 minutes for the radiator to drain and then squeezed the upper and lower hoses a few times and some more pink stuff came out. After another 5 minutes, it stopped flowing. I closed the valve and disconnected the tube. Note, the radiator cap is still on.

4. Next I removed the coolant reservoir. Three 10mm bolts are easy to find as you look under the hood and all three are easily accessible. I took the plastic reservoir and dumped into my large 5 gallon pan, and then reattached and put the cap back on.

5. Then I move everything to the passenger side. I looked in my wheel well and had to remove the odd shaped dust covers. Except when I tried to remove these thin flimsy pastic covers, they just broke into little pieces form wear. On this side you only have to remove the dust cover that protects the rear. It's about 8-10" long and is held in by some plastic snaps which are also likely to break upon disconnect if you're not really careful. Once you break if off, look all the way to the engine block and you can see the petcock valve and 10mm bolt to open the valve. I fed my drain tubing up through the bottom of the vehicle and jammed it somewhere so it stay. Then I moved around the side of my wheel and reached through the wheel well to grab it, and shoved it over the valve opening. Then I carefully removed my hand without bumping it and grabbed a bit piece of duct tape and taped the tubing to a piece of metal so again it would stay in place. Even with my long arms I could barely reach the valve stem. Next I took my little 6" long (1/4" drive) ratchet with 4" extender and 10mm socket and carefully reached in there to loose the bolt. It was pretty tight and there is very little room to actually loose the bolt this way. Soon as I did, the coolant started flowing. Unfortunately it started dripping out of the valve itself or perhaps the tubing just wasn't tight enough or angled down enough because coolant started drizzling at a good pace from somewhere where my pan was not. So I quickly had to adjust the pan so it would catch that extra flow, and then of course the tubing goes into the pan too. Because the tubing I bought was on a roll at the hardware store, it would curl up and not stay straight. This was extremely frustrating but I didn't want to wait over night to straighten it. So I taped the end of the tube to the top of the pan. A lot of coolant flowed out of this drain. I was really surprised. Again I squeezed the upper and lower radiator hoses as it was draining. After waiting another 10 minutes, the flow stopped. I removed the tubing and tightened the bolt. Note, the radiator cap is still on.

6. Finally I moved onto the drivers side petcock valve. What a &#(! this was. I never would have found it without someone taking the time to upload that video I posted a link to in the first post. It is an absolute ***** to reach. If my forearm were any bigger, I could not have reached it. If my monkey arms were any shorter, I could not have reached it. Just as I did on the passenger side wheel well, I removed the flimsy plastic dust/dirt covering from the back end of the wheel well. Again, the plastic stuff broke off in pieces. Because my vehicle was no jacked up, there was very little room to even see where the petcock was. I could see the bolt, but could not visually see the valve although I knew it was about 45d to the lower left of the bolt. After taking a mental note of where it's located below the exhaust manifold, I went under the hood again with my step stool. Keep in my I'm 6-2" and could barely reach this thing. Getting the tube on the valve was fairly easy and once again, I duct taped the tube to a piece of metal to hold it. The harder part was getting my little ratchet down the rabbit hold and completely under the exhaust manifold. It took me more than 10 minutes to figure out how to get that bolt loose. In the process, my forearm was scraping and pushing things out of the way to reach the area. Then to my surprised, less than 1/2 cup of coolant drained out. Seemed useless really to even do the drivers side; a waste of time. Then I removed the tube and tightened the bolt. Note, the radiator cap is still on.

7. At this point, some people seem to do water flushes. I did not bother with this as it's not specified as required on the official repair manual PDF from Toyota. I figure why waste the time and water. Also, the pdf says to torque the drain plug bolts on the engine block to a certain amount, but I didn't have a torque wrench so I just hand tightened them but was sure not to over tighten.

8. Lastly, I followed everything in Step 2 (a - j) and everything is running smooth.

Additional Notes
a. In each wheel well, there are flimsy plastic covers called dust shields and they need to be removed to see/reach the drainage points. One of the dust shields broke into a bunch of pieces when I started pulling out the plastic clips. It's $35 to replace the dust shield. Not only that, the little plastic clips are a whopping $1.90 each! Ridiculous cost for cheap plastic clips. I broke several of them trying to get the dust shields off.

b. The amount of fluid I was able to drain from my V6 was roughly 1.95 gallons of coolant. I used the same 1 gallon jugs from the coolant I bought from the Stealership. I replaced it with all 2 gallons. I have an automatic so the system holds 9.8L. And 1.95 gallons = 7.38L. And 9.8L - 7.38L = 2.42L (about 0.63 gallons) that I could not get out of the system.

c. No local auto stores would accept the coolant so I called the Dealership. They said as long as it's stored in sealed containers and I only had a few gallons, they would accept it for recycling.

d. Called my local Dealership in Central California and asked the service department how much to do a complete coolant flush. Cost to do the flush is $164.95.

e. Adding the cost of two gallons of the pink SLLC which cost $24 per gallon ($48 total), and the $40 dust shield replacement, total cost came out to $88. Total savings of roughly $77. Not that big of a savings considering what a pain it was trying to reach the drains on the engine block. Perhaps if I had been more careful removing the dust shields, I could have saved another $35.

 

[Benny123]

In the process, my forearm was scraping and pushing things out of the way to reach the area. Then to my surprised, less than 1/2 cup of coolant drained out. Seemed useless really to even do the drivers side; a waste of time.

Big thanks for this. This is exactly what I needed to know. I did the radiator and passenger side with ease but even attempting the driver side was a SOB. I gave up and sounds like for good reason. Also, the missing .63 gallons, it's in the radiator. I know because I had to replace mine. Drained petcock til it drained no more, but when I removed the radiator and tilted it 90 degrees got over half gallon out. Got 2.25 total + what pooled on the floor. I really don't think the driver's side helps at all. Future readers take note. Also had a discussion with a YouTube creator on this as well. He couldn't do driver side either, but still got over 2 gallons out. System only holds 2.5 gallons.

Block drain locations- Youtube

Also Valvoline oil change locations take all my old fluids. Coolant, oil, power steering and even brake!!!