Pink or Red? Coolant flush.

[thewaydown]

I'm going to be doing a coolant flush in the very near future in my 03 v6 I just purchased 2 days ago. Previous owner has driven it about 20k miles since having "coolant flush w/ sealer and conditioner" from a shop (not dealer). This Khameleon coolant was put in, and I'm pretty sure its what is in there now. Its kind of hard to tell because the color is similar to Toyota red. I think the Khameleon stuff is low/no silicate, so thats good, but I'm still really uneasy about it, considering the head gasket issues these early 4th gens have. Luckily, no misfire codes, no white smoke, no rough cold start. Even checked it with one of those combustion detector fluid kits and it passed (I know thats not the end all conclusion, but it gives me a little peace of mind).

I'm curious if the conditioner thing would cause any problems, as I've never done anything like that in my 99 5vz-fe.

I was a little concerned because the coolant in the reservoir is below the low line, and there is no visible coolant when looking down into the radiator from the cap. There is a tiny bit of coolant still in the bottom of the reservoir. My thoughts are, if the coolant is low, where did it go? I'm hoping that it has just evaporated in the last 20k miles since it was last put in.

Rather than topping off, I'm going to let it sit till I can do a full flush.

I read in another thread that someone mentioned the early 4th gens require Toyota Red coolant, while the later 4th gens require pink. Can someone confirm? I would prefer to put red in, as I have a 99 tacoma, and can use any left overs for topping off. Also, red is cheaper, since its not diluted and is the same price per gallon as the diluted stuff.

 

[Seymore Butts]

It takes the pink fluid. An empty expansion tank and a previous application of sealant are definitely not a good sign...

 

[chaz]

you can use either but they switched from red to pink midyear in 03. id say use pink tho.

 

[metramm]

Coolant won’t just evaporate as it is a sealed system (to my knowledge)

It is going somewhere. I. would pull the number 6 cylinder spark plug and check to see if it is wet. Put a borescope down there to see if there is coolant in the cylinder.

To me it sounds like it had a leak and the PO tried to seal it before selling.

Let us know how it goes, and good luck! I hope the gasket isn’t bad!

 

[CookieRoe]

Go pink.

Have you checked the drivers side lower part of the radiator? Look there, that is where my coolant was leaking. I've been sweating profusely thinking my head gasket was starting to go, but low and behold, I only have to replace the radiator. (not fun, but loads better than having major engine repair). Anyway, 4th gens tend to leak from that location.

Good luck!

 

[Seymore Butts]

And check your transmission fluid for any sign of coolant. That's another cause of mysterious disappearance of coolant.

 

[Bluesky 07]

I recently changed out the coolant on my '07 and used Valvoline Asian Formula, which is reasonably priced and available at Walmart. They call it red but it looks pink to me. I think they call it red mainly to differentiate it from their blue Honda product.

Check out the specs to be sure it works for your application but I can't imagine it won't.

 

[kcdehart]

Would recommend biting the bullet and just getting the Toyota pink for peace of mind.

As for the low coolant - I chased mine for a while before finding the root of the issue. There were a few things, actually.

Get a new radiator cap
Replace the line that goes from the cap to the return. Holes/cracks in this will keep coolant from siphoning back into the return properly.
Check the rad for leaks. Mine was leaking out the petcock on the bottom driver's side. I pulled it out and put some teflon tape on it to seal it. It's holding great now.
Also check the water pump for leaks/coolant residue. It can be pretty hard to see.

 

[thewaydown]

Go pink.

Have you checked the drivers side lower part of the radiator? Look there, that is where my coolant was leaking. I've been sweating profusely thinking my head gasket was starting to go, but low and behold, I only have to replace the radiator. (not fun, but loads better than having major engine repair). Anyway, 4th gens tend to leak from that location.

Good luck!

Man, I hope its my radiator. I looked by the drain plug and no sign of leakage. I'll probably pop off the skid plate and have a better look.

 

[thewaydown]

It takes the pink fluid. An empty expansion tank and a previous application of sealant are definitely not a good sign...

Does sealant/condition pose a problem in itself?

I know sealant doesn't sound good because the implication is that there was a problem that they thought sealant might hide/fix. I hope thats not the case, and it was just a salesperson that suggested it because he'd get commission. Seems like thats the case anyway. Previous owners were not mechanically inclined, and listened to what any given mechanic told them, so I can see how it was only flushed/conditioned/sealed with the recommendation of a mechanic/salesman wanting commission.

 

[thewaydown]

Coolant won’t just evaporate as it is a sealed system (to my knowledge)

It is going somewhere. I. would pull the number 6 cylinder spark plug and check to see if it is wet. Put a borescope down there to see if there is coolant in the cylinder.

To me it sounds like it had a leak and the PO tried to seal it before selling.

Let us know how it goes, and good luck! I hope the gasket isn’t bad!

I'm HOPING the flush/conditioner/sealant was just the PO being naive. They were not mechanically inclined it seemed, and probably just did whatever any given mechanic/shop/salesperson recommended.

However, I just ordered a borescope and will be checking number 6. I think I've read that cyl 4 has been the culprit for some? Not sure. I'll just check both.

 

[thewaydown]

And check your transmission fluid for any sign of coolant. That's another cause of mysterious disappearance of coolant.

I actually made sure to check the tranny fluid/engine oil before I purchased, and they were nice and clean. I hope I can track this down!

 

[thewaydown]

Would recommend biting the bullet and just getting the Toyota pink for peace of mind.

As for the low coolant - I chased mine for a while before finding the root of the issue. There were a few things, actually.

Get a new radiator cap
Replace the line that goes from the cap to the return. Holes/cracks in this will keep coolant from siphoning back into the return properly.
Check the rad for leaks. Mine was leaking out the petcock on the bottom driver's side. I pulled it out and put some teflon tape on it to seal it. It's holding great now.
Also check the water pump for leaks/coolant residue. It can be pretty hard to see.

Guess ill be putting pink in after the flush!

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll try pinning down this coolant loss thing this weekend. I'll check that return line as well.

 

[thewaydown]

So, I've done some research and watched a couple videos for an idea of where the engine block coolant drain plugs are, just want to confirm the procedure for flushing.

Drain the coolant from radiator and 2 block drain plugs.

Then fill rad with distilled water. Then what? The helpful thread I found didn't mention the procedure for flushing with distilled as they decided it wasn't necessary. However, being that I don't have the correct coolant, I'd like to do the distilled water step.

Do I fill the radiator up with distilled water, let the engine run with all the drain plugs tightened up, then drain the radiator and block plugs again? Then repeat a couple times until fluid is clear, empty radiator and block plugs again, then fill with pink coolant?

 

[mgbringo]

I just fixed mine. Tank was low and when I checked the radiator I could see red/pink staining in a couple of places on the engine side of the radiator. It was leaking but never saw any on the floor and didn't smell anything.

I ordered a new radiator, hoses, and thermostat from Rock Auto. I then drained radiator and filled with distilled water three times until drained water was almost clear. I drove it in between until it warmed up and thermostat opened.

I then filled with red pre-diluted anti freeze. That was a month ago now and it is fine now.

 

[BackOff]

The water pumps on these leak too...weep hole.

My 04 has a build date of 9/03 and had the pink SLL from day one.

Am using Zerex Asian formula now.

 

[thewaydown]

I just fixed mine. Tank was low and when I checked the radiator I could see red/pink staining in a couple of places on the engine side of the radiator. It was leaking but never saw any on the floor and didn't smell anything.

I ordered a new radiator, hoses, and thermostat from Rock Auto. I then drained radiator and filled with distilled water three times until drained water was almost clear. I drove it in between until it warmed up and thermostat opened.

I then filled with red pre-diluted anti freeze. That was a month ago now and it is fine now.

Red pre-diluted? Do you mean pink?

 

[thewaydown]

Now I'm torn, again. I was ready to buy a couple gallons of the Pink for my 03, now i've just been told again (3rd time I've heard it) that red should go in mine.

Does anyone know the logic behind this? Is the engine material a different alloy than the later year 4th gens?

I don't want to test my already suspect head gasket.

Manufacturer date is 06/03 if that provides any info.

 

[thewaydown]

The water pumps on these leak too...weep hole.

My 04 has a build date of 9/03 and had the pink SLL from day one.

Am using Zerex Asian formula now.

Hmm... Mine is 06/2003.

I wonder if they changed anything in those 3 months?

 

[mgbringo]

Diluted means it is already 50/50 with pure anti freeze and distilled water. I prefer using the concentrate and adding my own distilled water but couldn't find it in red. I did not try Toyota. I used Peak Final Charge Global. It is red and is pre-mixed.