radiator / coolant question

[bak3rme]

so today i notice my coolant level was a little below the L mark in the bottle. the color is red. however under the radiator cap..the fluid is green...WTH!

anyways. if i buy a gallon of the red stuff from dealership..can i just pour directly? or do i need to add Distilled water?

 

[Pikeman]

Ok here is the deal. Red and Green coolants are not compatible. DO NOT MIX them.

As far as if you can just pour it direct in without diluting depends on which red coolant you get from dealer. They have both premixed and pure coolant.

 

[bak3rme]

Ok here is the deal. Red and Green coolants are not compatible. DO NOT MIX them.

As far as if you can just pour it direct in without diluting depends on which red coolant you get from dealer. They have both premixed and pure coolant.

i didnt mix the coolant colors! the oil change place did! the color of under the radiator cap is green. the coolant inside the reservoir is red. but i've had the service done about a year ago this time...so its been like that for a year.

what should i do???? what can happen????

 

[Maritimer]

If they are actually mixed I think the recommendation is to do a couple of complete flushes (with water?) and then do a refill. I think the green isn't good for our systems.

 

[Nelsonmd]

Yeah, there is alot of debate over this. The manual says you can add any ethylene-glycol coolant, which the green stuff I accidentally put in is (yours may not be). I know there are quite a few people that have put green in either after completely flushing the red out, or by mixing, and haven't seen problems.

Has anyone actually had a problem with gelling or crystallization due to mixing? Apologies if this has already been posted, but after researching this quite a bit, I can't remember anyone actually having a problem, just people talking about the incompatibility.

 

[bak3rme]

i had the service station do this for me last fall...so its been a year and i've had no problems. the thing is if they mix...shouldn't you see a different color? red and green you get a differnt color? but i still see green under the radator cap

 

[troopa4life]

Not to worry, I would say drain the radiator and the reservoir tank, buy some toyota red fluid (2 gallons) which isn't mixed and some distilled water (2 gallons) and fill it up the radiator. The distilled water and radiator fluid will create a 50/50 mix. After about 15k miles do it again and you should be good to go. As far as I know the 3rd gen trucks use Toyota Red fluid and not Toyota Pink which is pre-mixed.

 

[Nelsonmd]

i had the service station do this for me last fall...so its been a year and i've had no problems. the thing is if they mix...shouldn't you see a different color? red and green you get a differnt color? but i still see green under the radator cap

Well, probably you should see some gross looking orangish color from the mixing, but they may stay a bit segregated. I put the green in mine (it's about half red and half green I think) about a month and a half ago, but have only been driving it for a few weeks. I haven't had any overheating either.

I plan on flushing my system and replacing with toyota red. Not sure what the talk of toyota pink vs red is. My understanding is there is just Toyota red, but it can be bought pre-diluted, or undiluted (undiluted being cheaper because you dilute it yourself).

There are some pretty easy instructions for flushing your system on the net, just google it.

 

[Nelsonmd]

Out of curiosity, I have read that it is safe to pour you old coolant down a household drain (instead of letting it runoff into the ground or street drain).

Anyone know anything about that? It's certainly easier than taking it to the hazardous waste collection.

 

[Pikeman]

OK to clarify my statement of not mixing.... Most of the Green coolants out there are not compatable. There are a few "Universal" Coolants that are green and compatable with the red/orange. Just be very carefull when reading.

 

[Qyota]

Out of curiosity, I have read that it is safe to pour you old coolant down a household drain (instead of letting it runoff into the ground or street drain).

Anyone know anything about that? It's certainly easier than taking it to the hazardous waste collection.

I too have heard this. A typical wastewater treatment plant process will handle it. This only applies to situations where the water is TREATED! With septic systems this is a no-no.

 

[bak3rme]

Not to worry, I would say drain the radiator and the reservoir tank, buy some toyota red fluid (2 gallons) which isn't mixed and some distilled water (2 gallons) and fill it up the radiator. The distilled water and radiator fluid will create a 50/50 mix. After about 15k miles do it again and you should be good to go. As far as I know the 3rd gen trucks use Toyota Red fluid and not Toyota Pink which is pre-mixed.

does this mean flush the system? i've heard alot that its harmful to flush this fluid at such a high mileage engine. im at 270k

 

[troopa4life]

Nope this is not a complete flush... all you are doing is removing the radiator fluid that is currently in the radiator, your engine block has fluid in it as well which will not be removed with this process. With that said, if you use this method change it out after about 10-15k miles using this same method. When I had my 4runner prior to it being totaled I used to do this after every 15k miles instead of flushing the whole system. I dont like flushing it, I think the method I use makes sure new fluid is always being run through the engine. I never had issues with the truck... I will be looking for another one when I get back from Iraq in a week or so.

 

[bak3rme]

Nope this is not a complete flush... all you are doing is removing the radiator fluid that is currently in the radiator, your engine block has fluid in it as well which will not be removed with this process. With that said, if you use this method change it out after about 10-15k miles using this same method. When I had my 4runner prior to it being totaled I used to do this after every 15k miles instead of flushing the whole system. I dont like flushing it, I think the method I use makes sure new fluid is always being run through the engine. I never had issues with the truck... I will be looking for another one when I get back from Iraq in a week or so.

plz tell me u are located in atlanta area.

 

[troopa4life]

Unfortunately I am a virginia boy HOWEVER when I get back in a week I will be purchasing a 4runner and I can post a how to document with pictures. But for now here are the instructions...

1) Open radiator cap on the top
2) remove front skid plate
3) open the radiator drain plug (attached image)
4) let it drain out completely... might take a while
5) Screw back the plug
6) Mix the Toyota Red Fluid with the Distilled water (1 quart of radiator fluid/1 quart of water)
7) keep doing this until the radiator is full
8) start the truck and turn the heat on all the way to HIGH and make sure the engine get's to normal operating temp... and keep filling with the mix
9) Keep filling more radiator/water mix into the radiator until you can't fill anymore
10) Fill up the reservoir tank up to the full mark

Call it a day

If you want... drive up to Virginia and I can do it for ya

Do this every 15k miles but in your case do it again after 6k miles then start doing it every 15k.

 

[bak3rme]

Unfortunately I am a virginia boy HOWEVER when I get back in a week I will be purchasing a 4runner and I can post a how to document with pictures. But for now here are the instructions...

1) Open radiator cap on the top
2) remove front skid plate
3) open the radiator drain plug (attached image)
4) let it drain out completely... might take a while
5) Screw back the plug
6) Mix the Toyota Red Fluid with the Distilled water (1 quart of radiator fluid/1 quart of water)
7) keep doing this until the radiator is full
8) start the truck and turn the heat on all the way to HIGH and make sure the engine get's to normal operating temp... and keep filling with the mix
9) Keep filling more radiator/water mix into the radiator until you can't fill anymore
10) Fill up the reservoir tank up to the full mark

Call it a day

If you want... drive up to Virginia and I can do it for ya

Do this every 15k miles but in your case do it again after 6k miles then start doing it every 15k.

nice gunna do this when i get a break in the schedual. yea my fluid under the cap is that color, but i'm gunna switch it out to the toyo red.

 

[brian2sun]

Just an FYI. From the research I've done, Toyota red coolant didn't come out until '99. At ~$30/gallon I personally think it's a waste of money to use it in pre-'99 trucks since they came with green from the factory. That's not to say that the Toyota red isn't better, but I think it's overpriced and I don't believe it's twice as good for more than twice the price. I've been using Prestone in mine for the last 9 years with no cooling system issues. I agree that mixing them isn't good though.

 

[bak3rme]

Just an FYI. From the research I've done, Toyota red coolant didn't come out until '99. At ~$30/gallon I personally think it's a waste of money to use it in pre-'99 trucks since they came with green from the factory. That's not to say that the Toyota red isn't better, but I think it's overpriced and I don't believe it's twice as good for more than twice the price. I've been using Prestone in mine for the last 9 years with no cooling system issues. I agree that mixing them isn't good though.

wow 30 bucks? ermm i could do that but lemme rethink this...whatever is under the cap is green...whatever is in the reservoir is red (but there is little left in resevoir, its a bit under the L now). so im thinkin right now i have more green than red..so might as well dump out whats in the reservoir and add green into it? good idea?

 

[troopa4life]

Just an FYI. From the research I've done, Toyota red coolant didn't come out until '99. At ~$30/gallon I personally think it's a waste of money to use it in pre-'99 trucks since they came with green from the factory. That's not to say that the Toyota red isn't better, but I think it's overpriced and I don't believe it's twice as good for more than twice the price. I've been using Prestone in mine for the last 9 years with no cooling system issues. I agree that mixing them isn't good though.

That is true... it is expensive which ranges from 20-30 dollars but if you are someone who want's to keep everything OEM like me then you should purchase toyota red. If you plan on running the regular green fluid then I suggest getting a full professional flush done first.

 

[Nelsonmd]

Just an FYI. From the research I've done, Toyota red coolant didn't come out until '99. At ~$30/gallon I personally think it's a waste of money to use it in pre-'99 trucks since they came with green from the factory. That's not to say that the Toyota red isn't better, but I think it's overpriced and I don't believe it's twice as good for more than twice the price. I've been using Prestone in mine for the last 9 years with no cooling system issues. I agree that mixing them isn't good though.

What I read was that they used red up to 99 (or maybe it was 01) then switched to the "pink". I think the pink is just diluted red, but not sure.

I have never read that they came from the factory with green