which coolant to buy

[cangler]

I noticed my coolant (pink) is low, and trying to be more efficient with doing the simple maintenance myself... where can I find some more of the pink coolant to add to it? I wasn't sure if you could just go to any auto supply shop and get the pink coolant equivalent... or if any 50/50 mix would be fine to add.

 

[Acidmeld]

Go to the dealer and get the super long life coolant. Don't mix aftermarket coolant with oem.

 

[MikeInNH]

There's no problem mixing aftermarket coolant (as long as it meets Toyota's standard) with OEM fluid. I hate to tell you this...but Toyota does NOT make coolant. There are literally less then 5 companies world wide that make Antifreeze. And Toyota is NOT one of them. The aftermarket fluid you buy may just be made by the same company that makes Toyota fluid.

 

[Acidmeld]

Correct. Toyota does not make their coolant. However the coolant they sell is made for them to their specifications. They design their coolant to resist corrosion in the exact aluminum mix of the engine metal. You could probably risk needing a new water pump in 10k miles but would you really want to just to save $20?

 

[cangler]

I was hoping I could avoid going to the dealer (bit of a drive for me), any suggestions on particular brands/types that would be just fine (to mix with pink, or is already pink) from either autozone, walmart or o'reilly(they're close to me)?

What about Zerex Asian Vehicle Antifreeze / Coolant? I don't know what color it is... but I've noticed some say "mix with any color", don't think this one does....

 

[cangler]

hopefully this is fine, I just bought a gallon of that Zerex Asian coolant (it's also pink to find out), and just topped off the coolant reservoir to about mid of the low and full lines. im not sure why it was low in the first place... didn't think it was suppose to lose any coolant unless there is a leak.

 

[Acidmeld]

Coolant does steam off over time. Very little tho. A reservoir amount in five years is normal.

 

[Flyer]

No offense but I would not use any old antifreeze that may not be to OEM specs. Then again, I use Toyota original Japanese filters that the dealers do not carry anymore, so I may be a bit too picky.:wow2:

 

[cangler]

I was hoping somebody else would say they use Zerex... :cry2:

 

[black_120]

I was hoping somebody else would say they use Zerex... :cry2:

The Zerex will be fine if you just needed to top it off. Heck, you probably would have been fine just adding straight water.

 

[cangler]

The Zerex will be fine if you just needed to top it off. Heck, you probably would have been fine just adding straight water.

I thought about just adding some distilled water, but went with the Zerex for more ease of mind I guess.
When the time comes for a radiator flush... which I may attempt doing myself, guess I'll go with all of Zerex.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

I would check a service manual or your owners manual to see what the specification is for coolant. If I have time at work I will see if I can get it for you. I would go with the Toyota Super Long Life Coolant, they contract it out to some company (like everyone else) but they have the company make it to their specifications for the best quality.

Over all, coolant is getting as picky as oil, but thankfully Toyota coolant Glycol based. Which means you can safely mix it with any other Glycol based coolant regardless of color. Color is more or less a brand thing, just make sure the coolant is applicable to your vehicle's specification like any other fluid you would put in. I believe Zerex will be fine for your vehicles application.

 

[KB084RUNNER]

Correct. Toyota does not make their coolant. However the coolant they sell is made for them to their specifications. They design their coolant to resist corrosion in the exact aluminum mix of the engine metal. You could probably risk needing a new water pump in 10k miles but would you really want to just to save $20?

+1 I'm lazy and never want to completely flush a cooling system so I always just drain and fill the radiator (and top off) ONLY with OEM coolant once every 50,000 miles. I have been doing this since the 1970's and have never had a radiator or water pump fail. With the Toyota LL pre-mixed coolant it is open, pour, close, done. Just way too easy to even think about using any other.

 

[rsingh]

This is what I used...The autozone guy told me it was good?

 

[MikeInNH]

They design their coolant to resist corrosion in the exact aluminum mix of the engine metal.

Correct...and the company that makes it for them also sells it to other companies to sell under their brand name.

 

[Acidmeld]

Correct...and the company that makes it for them also sells it to other companies to sell under their brand name.

Wrong. The exact blend is copyrighted and patented to Toyota making it illegal to sell it under any other name. Aftermarket is NOT the same.

 

[Gecko123]

Why complicate things and risk it,just buy the Toyota coolant. Done.

 

[MikeInNH]

Wrong. The exact blend is copyrighted and patented to Toyota making it illegal to sell it under any other name. Aftermarket is NOT the same.

EXACT formula...probably not....Equivalent formula that will work as well or better YES.

Several companies sell this.

Then to add a caveat....GM has several vehicles with Toyota engines in them...In fact some of these engines are shared among GM and Toyota...Toyota puts in their Pink formula...and GM puts in their Orange formula. This has been going on for years with no ill-effect what-so-ever....so OBVIOUSLY there are compatible formulas that work.

 

[Hapeacres]

I think "SILICATE FREE" is the key word to look for on coolant.

 

[450exc115]

Having owned alum block/headed cars for nearly 20 years now and some of them being higher end (Audi) I can say with some conviction that coolant type is important. My rule is always mix like products. So if I need to top off the Toyota or the wife's Acura I'll use factory coolant. BUT when it is time to flush and refill I will be running a silicate free aftermarket coolant mixed 50/50 with distilled water. My favorite is walmart that come in the white container and is yellow in color. It's approved for Alum engines and preformed well in the Alum engines I had for many years. In a pinch I'd mix it with factory coolant but only if I know I am flushing the system shortly. I've also learned that using distilled water is the best for long term health of a coolant system.

The first flush I generally drain the system, and then refill and drain several times using distilled water unit it comes out clear. It takes long time the first time but after than the flush and fill is easy. Generally I do coolant ever 2 years as this worked well for my father for the last 50 years and most of his cars get into the 200K mile range with little problems.