Toyota Red vs. Pink Coolant
- Thread starter T4R_Finally
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potomacduck
New member
My stealership wanted $32 per gallon for the Toyota red !
I bought 2 gallons of Zerex Asian at NAPA for $12 per gallon.
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I bought 2 gallons of Zerex Asian at NAPA for $12 per gallon.
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T4R_Finally
New member
The pink stuff from the stealerships isn't cheap either. By the way, if you drain everything properly, you are going to need a 3rd gallon to top everything off. The capacity is 8.7 quarts I think, so 2 gallons won't quite get you there.
Use whatever is close and you'll be fine. There are posts where people have run even the green generic stuff for hundreds of thousands of miles without issue. Just make sure what radiator you have,.. there ARE issues with some stuff not playing well with the lead solder used in the non-aluminum radiators and other formulations ruining the aluminum ones. Just remember to flush your system completely. When I had another 4runner ('90) I flushed my system by emptying every drop, from everything I could reach, then running tap into it,.. with the engine running to try to get whatever was left. Then I sealed it up, filled with tap, idling with heater on until it got hot and flowed through there. Drained that into a container. after that,. another refill from the garden hose ... got it hot the same way then opened the petcock (i know.. teehee "petcock") and letting it drain slowly,.. as I stuck the garden hose into the overflow tank as it slowly drained. I watched it drain then suck from the tank a few until i was sure I had the amount of water from the hose at just the right flow to keep it doing that and went inside to do some other stuff (obviously checking avery 10-15 minutes). After about an hour,.. turn off hose and drain the crystal clear water out.. run distilled through it twice and let it run,.. drain then refill with about a 60-70%water to coolant mix.
Don't let people tell you you need a 50/50... water is what cools,.. the coolant is a surfactant to help it cling to the metal when hot,.. hell,.. if you could add lubricants to it it could be soap in there and it would work almost as well (there have been vids,.. years ago about this). The pressure cap is what really raises the boiling point of the water in your system -vs- the level of increase from the coolant.
Have a great day!... I'm heading out as the sun just popped up!
Don't let people tell you you need a 50/50... water is what cools,.. the coolant is a surfactant to help it cling to the metal when hot,.. hell,.. if you could add lubricants to it it could be soap in there and it would work almost as well (there have been vids,.. years ago about this). The pressure cap is what really raises the boiling point of the water in your system -vs- the level of increase from the coolant.
Have a great day!... I'm heading out as the sun just popped up!
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giovannie23
New member
I use zerex although i went to napa last week and they dident have the black jug i get
Is all the zerex the same regardless of the color of the jug
Is all the zerex the same regardless of the color of the jug
jreask
Member
no, you need Zerex Asian
Mgyver1
Member
According to this the red and pink are compatible with each other.
http://www.toyotaparts.metro-toyota.com/ENGINE_COOLANT_COLOR_CHANGE_T-PG010-02.pdf
Also, the maintenance manual in my '00 says to change the coolant every 30k miles.
http://www.toyotaparts.metro-toyota.com/ENGINE_COOLANT_COLOR_CHANGE_T-PG010-02.pdf
Also, the maintenance manual in my '00 says to change the coolant every 30k miles.
D Farms
New member
it used to be that the prestone green and the toyota red would sludge when mixed, however nowadays the coolants are compatible and hardly anyone runs the toyota red as there is no real reason to. fyi the water is a much more effective cooling agent than the antifreeze itself, the antifreeze is mostly there to prevent corrosion and also modify the boiling and freezing temperatures.
Rock_Rat
Senior Member
So I had my oil changed along with a drain and fill on the tranny yesterday at Broadway Toyota here in Portland. (I know, I can do all my other maintenance but I don't do oil or tranny servicing if I can help it. I've done it for years. Hate the disposal and hate dropping the skids plus there's a great little bar down the street!) I spoke with a few of the techs there about the pink and red coolant and here's the feedback I got from them.
For our 3rd gen 4runners, they all recommend using red. If I were to pull in and ask for a coolant flush it would be red. As far as the TSB, yes they are using pink, but they're seeing a lot of problems related to the "pre-mixed" coolant. The one tech feels it's more corrosive than the red. Take it for what it's worth.
Also, Broadway Toyota will NOT do tranny flushes on ANY vehicles for exactly the same reason stated on here in many threads. You're only asking for more problems when all that stuff breaks loose. Just increase the frequency of your drain and fills.
For our 3rd gen 4runners, they all recommend using red. If I were to pull in and ask for a coolant flush it would be red. As far as the TSB, yes they are using pink, but they're seeing a lot of problems related to the "pre-mixed" coolant. The one tech feels it's more corrosive than the red. Take it for what it's worth.
Also, Broadway Toyota will NOT do tranny flushes on ANY vehicles for exactly the same reason stated on here in many threads. You're only asking for more problems when all that stuff breaks loose. Just increase the frequency of your drain and fills.
TorqueOfTheDevil
Member
Loads of people still selling red on Ebay..
That's where I get mine from.
Toyota 4life.
Or at least until the next time you take it apart....
That's where I get mine from.
Toyota 4life.
Or at least until the next time you take it apart....
Pyral
Member
When I got my radiator replaced they put green coolant in it. Is it worth changing it back to OEM pink/red?
Even the mechanic I asked said that they'd never be able to completely flush out the old green stuff, plus it adds $80 to the job. Does the Toyota stuff have any advantage apart from being able to say you followed Toyota's recommended coolant?
Even the mechanic I asked said that they'd never be able to completely flush out the old green stuff, plus it adds $80 to the job. Does the Toyota stuff have any advantage apart from being able to say you followed Toyota's recommended coolant?
the_welfare_wagon
New member
Someone left green crap coolant in mine for a while and it eroded the block and eventually blew the head gasket because of it. Definitely worth doing.
Despite what they say you’ll definitely be able to get 99% of the old crap out. I was able to flush mine until it was basically drinking water coming out(not that you’d want to lol)
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pluton
Senior Member
Sounds like they don't want the job.
What I did:
Drain, refill with distilled water, drive around a bit, totally drain it (1 hour or more draining from the the little petcock on the radiator---every drop counts.) If your thermostat is correctly installed with the jiggle valve at 6 o'clock, the system will have less than a quart remaining. Green coolant that dilute won't do anything bad to the red. Plus, you'e going to change it again in 2 or 3 years, right?
My previous 4Runner had green coolant. I flushed it several times with distilled water before replacing the thermostat/water pump/radiator. I would recommend going with Toyota red or pink coolant. While most coolant is ethylene glycol each color is typically formulated a little different and can cause corrosion or sediment deposits if it doesn't like the metal compound it comes in contact with.
If you decide to flush it I would recommend removing the thermostat during flushing as it makes the whole process go much faster not having to wait for the thermostat to open and the thermostat restricting how fast the block can drain.
phattyduck
Elite Member
You can just drive it for a week with distilled water and do that a couple times - no harm in a running a short interval with only distilled water.... (you could put in some water wetter or similar if you feel the need for some corrosion protection for the short interval).
-Charlie
Very true, but I wanted it flushed fast before I replaced water pump/thermostat/radiator.
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