Toyota Red Antifreeeze.

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landtoy80

landtoy80

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Got my Red fluid today. The directions say to add fresh water.
I will go against the the directions and add distilled water.

Anyone know how cold its going to get this winter???
-34, -62 or -84.
As AL says "This global warming will cause it to get colder"....?????
 
I believe it will get to around 50 degrees this winter. Of wait you don't live in California? :flipoff2:
 
Kurt,

I think there's an optimal mix ratio for cooling if you do a google search. I'd start there and then "richen" the mix with red until it's at the max historical low for your area. I don't take chances as there are a lot of circumstances I can think of where the vehicle might be forced to spend a night unexpectedly in the cold or something similar. I also premix it after the first gallon of anti freeze goes in to be sure I get my mix ratio spot on.

DougM
 
landtoy80 said:
Got my Red fluid today. The directions say to add fresh water.
I will go against the the directions and add distilled water.

Anyone know how cold its going to get this winter???
-34, -62 or -84.
As AL says "This global warming will cause it to get colder"....?????
Click to expand...

The beaver dams were big (means lots of snow) around Silverton - of course that may not mean anything where you live...

P.S. Warm is Good.
 
Is that Silverton, BC??
 
I was going to be mighty surprised as the BC town is infinitesmal and we were just there in our 80 last week. Sorry about the thread hijack..

DougM
 
Ok I'll bite. I've been to Silverton BC. About 30 years ago I think when exploring BC with my dad. With a little planning Doug, we could have met up with you.
 
Regarding anti-freeze and freezing...I have always believed that the temp rating they give for antifreeze is to keep any ice from forming. But if the temp goes below that all that happens is the water freezes out of the solution, turning to slush and if cold enough then probably all ice. But I never paid alot of attention to the freezing numbers as I always figured at worst case it would turn into slush which will readily melt...versus a large chunk of ice if using water alone.

I have frozen several vehicles completely solid over the years, my car from highschool atleast a few times, no ill effects, never popped a freeze plug, etc...maybe others have actually had frozen engines do bad things...

-Mark Brodis
 
Is there any reason why I shouldn't mix it the max 70 30? That gives -84 protection
The chart says for 15qt I should add 9qt. This would be -62 protection 60% mix

Why do they say 50 or 60% is best but 70% give the coldest and hottest protection?
Is the higher % hard on the motor?

I think I know why they say "fill with fresh water" and not distilled water. Distelled water is hard to get these days. Wmart has it but not one in town. The only place that had it was Walgreens. I took their complete stock 8qt.
Is there something in the Toy Red coolant that neutralizes hard water?
 
Water transfers/dissisipates heat better while more coolant percentage yields you better boiling and freezing points ==> engine would be running hotter with 70% coolant. Here in N. California weather, I'm running somewhere 40-50% coolant.

I think Toyota coolant has some cleaning/neutralizing agents that might have been dumping out the gray mud.
 
landtoy80 said:
Is there any reason why I shouldn't mix it the max 70 30? That gives -84 protection
The chart says for 15qt I should add 9qt. This would be -62 protection 60% mix

Why do they say 50 or 60% is best but 70% give the coldest and hottest protection?
Is the higher % hard on the motor?

I think I know why they say "fill with fresh water" and not distilled water. Distelled water is hard to get these days. Wmart has it but not one in town. The only place that had it was Walgreens. I took their complete stock 8qt.
Is there something in the Toy Red coolant that neutralizes hard water?
Click to expand...

Water carries heat much better than antifreeze. The more antifreeze you have in your system, the less capable the cooling system is. Unless you're potentially going to need protection to a lower temp than 50/50, you're increasing your cooling capacity and saving money at the same time by going 50/50.

Also, distilled water is more corrosive than tap water. You may think you're doing your engine a favor by using it, but you're not.

Steve H
 
>> Also, distilled water is more corrosive than tap water. <<

Elaborate please.

-B-
 
Beowulf said:
>> Also, distilled water is more corrosive than tap water. <<

Elaborate please.

-B-
Click to expand...

Water is known as the universal solvent. Try to make mud with a little gasoline, for example. Water causes rust, other liquids don't. Water likes to carry impurities, so it chemically attacks whatever it's in contact with.
 
erics_bruisers said:
neither toy nor thee dudes would agree with that --

Antifreeze has something in it to lock up the corrosiveness, I'm sure. Also, depending on your tap water, there may be something in it that's not good for the engine. If you're driving across Africa I wouldn't put mudhole water in the radiator, for example. That's probably what they mean. I'd be very interested in seeing an actual study comparing distilled water with typical US tap water.
Click to expand...
 
These guys recommend Distilled water but supporting the Distilled vs Tap Water argument isn't the only reason for posting the link. There's a good discussion on the percentage of coolant vs water. The site has some good explanations that are relevant to our on-going cooling system questions.

They also make some great points on the advantages of the 93-94 copper/brass radiators vs the 95-97 aluminum radiators.

-B-
 
Last edited:
The 50% mix says it protects from "boiling upto" 265
60% coolant goes to 270 and 70% coolant go to 276.

To me that means that more coolant % equals beter protection, is that correct?



I just added the distilled water yesterday. Monday I will put the Red in.

How could distilled water be more corrosive? Distilled water is just water that is boiled to make steam, the steam is collected, cooled where it is liquid water again?
 
Last edited:
landtoy80 said:
The 50% mix says it protects from "boiling upto" 265
60% coolant goes to 270 and 70% coolant go to 276.

To me that means that more coolant % equals beter protection, is that correct?
Click to expand...


From boil over and freezing yes

but coolant carries less heat then water and a rich mixture reduces cooling efficiency of the system, up north where you are that probably would not be a problem but my stomping grounds in GA and FL I need good cooling more than ultra low freeze protection so I run about 50/50


SteveLCetc, distilled water is recommended universally by laymen, professionals and corporations alike, if you have a reason too not use it that would be a excellent thing for us to know

If pure water has a need absorb something wouldn’t all the different chemicals in coolant fill this need? AFIK neither steel brass nor aluminum dissolve in water their oxides will but corrosion inhibitors take care of that

There is also this note on page co-2 of the 96 LX FSM

NOTICE:
The coolant should be mixed with demineralized water or distilled water.
Click to expand...
 
Demineralized is the key - you don't want it to sludge up. Distilled is usually overkill, depending on where you live and how your fresh water is. Antifreeze has compensates for the aggressiveness of the water, so distilled is okay, just a waste of money unless your tap water is heavily mineralized - Knock yourself out...
 
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