2011 Lexus lx570 radiator removal install notes (1 Viewer)

[highfructose]

I’m not a mechanic, I’m bad at it…to help me get through it, I usually try to make basic easy to follow instructions using videos and threads (and ai now).

This is like a diy tutorial for a very inexperienced car repair person, detailing the tool I used to handle each difficulty…

My 2011 lx570 w around 106k miles developed a hairline crack in the spot they normally do…even though I had a jb weld radiator patch on that spot to strengthen it.

I don’t know whether the patch helped or not because I put it on when there was a witness mark, but no leak 4-5 years and 20k miles ago…the leak occurred while towing a small trailer for 2-3 hrs one day..:and it only leaked 6-8 oz of coolant before I noticed…so maybe the preemptive patch kept me from having a more catastrophic leak…or maybe it extended the life of the radiator somewhat.

some part numbers and tool sizes might be slightly off. I got mixed info early on and have had to edit my own notes. Will attempt to make sure I don’t miss anything/get stuff wrong.

Radiator:

16400-50384

Radiator $306 historically

16400-50384 Genuine Toyota Radiator Assembly - https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~radiator~assy~16400-50384.html

Prices now

280-320



Upper and lower radiator hose

Upper Radiator Hose: 16571-38080 ($23)

Lower Radiator Hose: 16572-38131 ($30.33)





Thermostat:
16031-38010 (this is confusing…you can buy this part from some Toyota websites but not others because they’re starting to only sell it as part of an assembly for like 30 dollars more…the larger assembly part number supersedes this one. You can buy this individual thermostat as an aisen (likely oem w no oem warranty) part alone on Amazon for around 30)



Total $360 shipped from central Florida Toyota 3/2/25

4.4 gallons of coolant. Previously I used

-PEAK OET Extended Life Red/Pink Concentrate Antifreeze/Coolant for Asian Vehicles, 1 Gal for $25 makes 2 gallons…likely need to purchase 2+ gallons plus distilled water.







1. Radiator Replacement DIY (IH8MUD Forum)

Radiator Replacement DIY

Before I do this- is a radiator replacement DIY needed? I couldn't find one but maybe I wasn't looking hard enough. I'd say this job was a 5/10, kinda a pain to figure out how to do it but I did it without removing the fan or shroud. Radiator was as of today 460 bucks or so with tax from the...

forum.ih8mud.com

Another radiator crack/what should I replace thread - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/another-radiator-crack-what-should-i-replace-thread.1325598/



2. 2009 LX570 Radiator Replacement (YouTube)



3. Land Cruiser 200 Series or LX570 Radiator Replacement (YouTube)



This is the seemingly more sophisticated mechanic…seems like a good video.



Ai tutorial via prompt:

Use diy and tutorial and instruction threads from ih8mud to make me a tutorial for replacing the radiator and all reasonable other items that you would generally replace during the same repair



This guide consolidates information from IH8MUD threads and related resources to provide a step-by-step tutorial for replacing the radiator on a 2011 Lexus LX570. It also includes recommendations for replacing related components during the process.

 

[highfructose]

Tools and Supplies Needed

• 13mm 1/4” socket (deep well and shallow used) with 24” of extensions (13mm for my skid plates)
• 10mm socket
• Flex head Ratcheting 10mm, 15mm wrenches used
• Pliers or hose clamp (hose clamp standard, offset, and cable) removal pliers
• Expandable magnetic bolt retrieval tool
• Drain pan

Parts (recommend to look at multiple sources…the savings from free shipping and incentives/sales can be enormous…I had a swing from $750 total from one seller to $360 from another…also recommended to check credit card cash back offers…there are often credit cards that will pay you $200-$300 if you spent $500-$1000…if you haven’t used one of these credit cards lately, you might consider it…as long as you are disciplined, it’s essentially free money.)

• OEM Toyota radiator (recommended, $258 or so after discount)
• New radiator hoses (upper and lower)
• Transmission cooler line clamps as needed
• Toyota World Standard coolant (I plan on using the pink/red peak oet)

Optional

• New thermostat ($60 or so after discount…sticky thermostats may be able to cause popped radiators…so if your radiator popped, you may want to do the thermostat while you’re in there for that reason and others)
• Gasket for thermostat
• hose clamps (as needed)

Preparation

• Examine new parts to see if there are obvious issues…shipping damages the radiators often
• Place car in high mode
• Safety First: Disconnect the battery to avoid electrical issues.
• Remove the forward most skid plates (12 and 14mm for me) to access the radiator drain plug.
• Place a drain pan under the vehicle (a rolling xl underbed storage bin is often around $20 and functions really well for not just this…but as an extra splash bin for oil changes too)
• Carefully open the radiator drain plug to remove coolant…you can partially open it to let the coolant dribble/drain straight down as opposed to opening completely and causing a stream down and back (and possible mess)…usually that’s how these go.

 

[highfructose]

Radiator hose work

• Disconnect radiator upper and lower Hoses using hose clamp tools…I used a standard one, one on a cable, and one with an angle head on it (they’re like $26 for a set…not the highest quality at this price but with careful aiming, seemingly preferable to pliers)
• Remove the upper and lower radiator hoses by sliding back their clamps with pliers…do this carefully…as a rule anywhere there is plastic, even if you’re throwing the part away, it’s a good idea to practice care…you’ll be careful later on other stuff if you do so…I found using one of those mini hook picks to be helpful to carefully pull the lips of the hoses where I could reach…and push them where I couldn’t, helped unseat the hoses without much drama.
• Tape any exposed pipes (upper radiator hose) into the engine closed with masking tape-don’t want bolts or other things making their way in there.

Fan Shroud:

• DO NOT START WITH FAN SHROUD MOUNTING BOLTS…the fan shroud may be under tension from the transmission lines and their brackets on the back…and if you loosen a top bolt, the whole shroud may jerk/pull and the old plastic will crack/break…it’s a $100 part to replace (I just taped mine, will see if it works).
• First use a 10mm flex head ratchet wrench to remove 2 transmission cooler line mounting brackets from the back of the fan shroud (from the bottom)
• Now remove the two 12mm bolts holding the fan shroud at the top…my expansion tank side broke most of the mounting ear immediately…15 year old plastic…still seems to have enough ear to be alright, may have to apply some creative repair on the reinstall…various hoses seem to disallow removing shroud at this time.
• Remove expansion tube from top of radiator near cap…a small hook pick can free up the rubber to allow it to move easily

 

[highfructose]

Detaching the radiator

• Disconnect transmission cooler lines from the bottom of the radiator (use plugs or sharpie markers to prevent too much fluid leakage from hoses…I pushed mine as far in as I reasonably could to avoid leakage…
• do not do that…push them in too far and they can get stuck, causing a headache on removal. Don’t muscle them in there, give them a little push, they’re not likely to come out or let fluid out.
• you have to pull up and then push back the fan shroud (it has mounting channels it rests in on the bottom) Push the shroud back toward the engine for clearance but do not fully remove it…this is easiest from the bottom I think…if you wiggle it around it will sort of rest around the fan
• You may Place caps from new radiator or some other onto the old transmission fluid hard lines to prevent radiator from dropping an over the place on way out if you have them.
• Either ensure you can get to the 4 mounting bolts…about 2.5’ of 1/4” extensions (shorter the better) with a high quality shallow well 12 or 13mm (note explaining the variation in sizes next) short well socket (gear wrench is good/inexpensive) (even the Ironman bumper which seems right in the way of the little access holes on the front of the vehicle) on the hardest nuts (passenger and driver side side lower) worked for me.
• -note: the radiator mounting bolts are actually 12mm, not 13…I errantly used a 13 which may have, unwittingly, given me the equivalent of what you might call a wiggle socket…allowing the slightest variation in sockets ability to get to some of these bolts…in my vehicle, the passenger lower, in particular, was a real bear due to occlusion caused by an Ironman bumper support piece…yours may be much easier…
• my fender liners may be cut due to aftermarket bumper install, but I can get to the 15mm nuts with a ratcheting wrench through the fenders…
• passenger side internal nut may need to use a 14” long handled flex head ratchet and 15mm short well from the top if you can’t get to it through the fender liner…
• using the 15mm wrench/socket to break the nut, rather than the extension laden 13mm to break the bolt, seems to work on very tight 15mm/13mm bolt nut combos, but most mine could be broken from either side…
• Remove four radiator mounting bolt/nuts (or the bolts affixing the mounting Bracket the radiator)…
• on the passenger side lower, there’s a viewport you can use from the top to line up your socket with the outer bolt…you can look through this viewport and manipulate your extensions/socket by reaching down between the front of the engine bay and grill while looking down through that port.
• you will certainly be using an extendable rigid head magnetic part retrieval tool (swivel/wobble head will grab onto stuff on the way into the hole and will not work) to remove bolts once they’re loose
• Even with a quite occluded (by my Ironman bumper) entry point on the lower passenger radiator mount, 5 of my shortest 1/4” gear wrench extensions with a short well gearwrench 13mm I was able to get this front lower passenger side radiator mount bolt relatively easily…each short extension sort of acts as a partial wobble…adding up to enough wobble to keep the socket head straight/rigid enough angle to be able to get past the occlusions while also affixing securely to the bolt…I monkey’d with various other socket and wobble combinations for more than an hour on this before settling on this above setup and strategy…took 5 minutes once I figured it out.
• Passenger side lower radiator inside the engine bay side 15mm bolt can be accessed from the top using a 12-14” flex head 3/8” ratchet and a short well 15mm socket if you can’t get it through the fender…you can actually hold it while holding the extension laden grill side ratchet though you may not need to, it might pinion itself when you start turning the extension laden ratchet (as previously stated I got to this nut with a 15mm wrench through the fender so I didn’t need to do this)
• Below is the quarter inch socket setup I used for the lower passenger radiator bolt…yours may be shorter as the Ironman bumper sticks out pretty far and I was, with the ratchet, twisting from through the hilift mount point.

• Same protocol as above for the upper passenger main radiator bolt/nut though fewer extensions necessary
• On the driver’s side, remove a small plastic cover to access one upper bolt. .it looked like a plastic Phillips head bolt but I couldn’t get it to unscrew so I popped it out using a panel rivet popper tool..I’ll plastic rivet it back in later
• Might want to consider removing radiator brackets from radiator as well as radiator bracket from frame…might give more wiggle room to get the old radiator out if you’re having trouble (I didn’t) and there are only like 3 bolts, easy to reach, on each side.
• Remove the radiator perhaps with the assistance of another…another person should be under the car guiding its various protrusions around the various protrusions of the vehicle…be careful not to damage fan blade….i was able to get it out on my own by starting on the bottom to get the transmission fluid and lower hose flange past the bottom of the fan shroud…then I stood on top of the metal front cross member in the engine bay and my bumper to pull up on the radiator inside the engine bay …
• The trick to easily sneak the radiator’s transmission lines/lower radiator hose flange past the fan blades and upper portion of the fan shroud is to lever/wobble the radiator towards the front and then back of the vehicle mostly…but a bit side to side… repeatedly as you’re pulling upwards…took like 20 seconds and not much banging/clanging to the radiator/vehicle

 

[highfructose]

Thermostat

It appears that the thermostat and its housing may be sold as an assembly or as just a thermostat sub assembly…the “just” thermostat sub assembly appears to only be held on by 3 nuts.



Tools:

• • 10mm 1/4” short well on about 4.5” extension and flex head ratchet seemed best for this
  
  
• Or 10mm wobble head ratcheting wrench for bottom and top bolt (or flex head 10mm ratcheting wrench)
• Quarter inch torque wrench

Parts



Thermostat and gasket

ACTUAL THERMOSTAT ??? 16031-38010 ???

Gasket appears to come with the thermostat.







If doing the thermostat only, here’s a video:

• Thermostat is part of a larger inlet housing…I accidentally ordered the wrong part…ensure you’re just buying the thermostat sub assembly if thats all you’re messing with.
• You can do what’s in the video to make access to the thermostat easier, but if you’ve got the radiator out and shroud partially removed, you really just need a quarter inch 4.5”-6” long extension and a semi wobble or short well 10mm socket and you can get the hard nut (deepest in the engine)…the two easy ones (bottom and front most) can be had with a wobble head ratcheting wrench or 10mm short well on extensions.
• Pay attention to torque as you Remove thermostat likely using a flex head ratcheting wrench (easiest to break these nuts w in my experience)
• Ensure you’ve removed old thermostat gasket
• (If not immediately attaching new thermostat, consider covering the hole with masking tape)
• Clean mounting surface of thermostat with alcohol
• Mount thermostat in attached image orientation
• Two nuts are easy to get on
• 3rd innermost can be affixed if you have fat/non dextrous fingers by putting a small piece of paper/cardboard between the nut and a flex head ratcheting 10mm wrench…you can get the nut on top of the stud and make the smallest twist to the right to get the nut on there…then remove the ratchet and spin the nut until finger tight
• 
• TORQUE THE NUTS Forum appears to indicate 7 lbs (10nm) is torque spec for inlet bolts and air tube bracket bolts…I was able to use a 1/4” torque wrench (inch pounds) to get the east bolt with just a short well socket…the bottom one needed a short extension…the innermost I gave up on attempting to use a torque wrench and carefully gauged it myself against how much I twisted the other two bolts with a torque wrench
• Clamps: Install new clamp if needed later when pipes go on.

 

[highfructose]

New Radiator installation

• Insert the new radiator into position, ensuring alignment with mounting brackets…this is easier than getting it out by wide margin since gravity is helping you.
• Sneak the lower hose mount and transmission fluid stubs past the fan shroud and perhaps first fan blades from the top
• Go under the vehicle and carefully lever the transmission fluid and lower hose stubs past each fan blade…you can carefully bend, only slightly, the plastic fan blades here and there

 

[highfructose]

Mounting the radiator

• The new radiator has little hanger tabs that grab onto the spot that it mounts on the top 2 nut integrated rubber grommet mounts …ensure these are hooked before attempting to thread bolts into the radiator…you’ll be unable to slightly lift the radiator to get t he hooks into place if you put the bolt in there before the hooks are in place
• supposedly you’re supposed to thread but don’t fully torque the four radiator mounting bolts (leaving it not fully torqued at this point will make threading all of them easier as it’ll give wiggle room)…I failed on the bottom bolts and came up with an alternative mounting solution, more on that later…my new radiator had nuts integrated into the radiator mounting brackets unlike the original…so it appears there is no need to reuse the radiator mounting bracket nuts from the old radiator.
• Top passenger bolt is relatively easy to get in with a couple short extensions and a 12mm short well (1/4”) socket.
• Top driver relatively easy with the same as above
• Lower passenger gave me trouble.
• I’m hind sight I think I could have used an extendo magnet to put the oem bolt through the hole by pulling the radiator away from the crossmember slightly…so I could make sure the bolt made it through the crossmember itself before then attempting to thread it by hand from under the vehicle with my fingers on the threads of this bolt between the radiator and the crossmember….my issue was that I likely didn’t even have the radiator mounting holes lined up with the holes in the cross member…so I spent an hour twisting a bolt blindly hoping it would catch threads that weren’t even there. The above might work…might not…the solution I sought out worked relatively quickly easily…it’s more serviceable this way imo…I wouldn’t mind doing it again on another radiator.
• I Decided to seek out a more elegant solution than using the short bolts through the blind hole with 24” of extensions…I used a longer bolt and I threaded it backwards through the radiator from inside the engine bay. ….m8-1.25 at 150mm
• if you do like I did and thread from inside the engine well, rather than outside (that’s what I’m trying) then be careful as you’re threading the bolt into the back…if the radiator bracket isn’t lined up with the hole in the crossmember, the bolt will just push against the crossmember and pull the rubber mounting grommet out of the radiator as you drive the 150mm (the radiator has a surprising amount of wiggle room up down and side to side, don’t assume the radiator is lined up with the mounting holes appropriately even if you have other bolts in, visually confirm by levering the radiator away from the cross member and looking…if you don’t line the radiator up before driving the 150mm bolt through, you might spend 30 minutes or so to get the radiator mounting grommet you pulled out back into the radiator (like me)

 

[highfructose]

• This full thread 150 bolt and nut combo uses the mounting nut from the old radiator on the outside of the engine bay/cross member (rather than inside)…and you can rearrange the old mounting grommets from the old radiator like this to keep the new all thread bolt centered on the outside of the cross member…
• 
• Had to trim the old Radiator grommet on the passenger lower side because there was something metal in the way from it fitting flush…I would recommend you put the rubber part in first…then thread the metal insert in…then try to get the bolt through it…as long as you can get the rubber grommet inserted to the first shoulder (wd40 helped, grease probably would too) torquing it the rest of the way with the nut is easy.

Once you get the all thread all the way through, it’s pretty easy to use two ratchet wrenches from here (next image) to torque everything (this setup may not work for you though-I have trimmed some plastic and have an iron man bumper)

 

[highfructose]

• (Wrenches are on the inner radiator bolt and outer old radiator nut, towards the top of the image)
• 
• The 150mm all thread replacement lower radiator bolt sticks out this far…this was before I got the rubber/metal old radiator mounting grommet in there (should have put it in first)…I used a ratcheting wrench at times and a wobble socket on a short quarter inch extension and 120 tooth ratchet on the lower passenger nut at others…tight but doable.

Here it is with the old radiator grommet and old radiator mounting nut affixed on the outside of the front engine bay cross member.

• 
• Lower driver side radiator mounting bolt was a lot easier…sprayed some wd40 on just the rubber portion of the old radiator grommet…got it in to the first shoulder of it so it would stay…put the metal insert/washer into the grommet…then threaded the new 150mm all thread from inside the engine bay taking care not to miss the radiator mounting hole in the cross member (thereby avoiding pulling the new radiator mounting grommet out of the radiator bracket like I did the first one)…can use ratcheting 15mm wobble head wrench here to torque down the outer nut
• Torque all bolts reasonably tightly…feels pretty secure to me

 

[highfructose]

Upper and lower hoses

• Orient hoses properly…you can use coolant to lubricate them and make sliding them on easier…the upper battery side hose has paint marks on it showing orientation…and I think the clamps are supposed to be centered in that paint.
• The upper (battery side) hose is pretty easy to get the clamps oriented so they’re easy to manipulate into place.
• The thermostat to lower radiator hose has a purple dot on the thermostat side. You might consider orienting the hose clamp ears there on it…it’s somewhat accessible from the top of the engine bay that way as long as you use the right type of hose clamp pliers (it’ll have a slot on one side that sort of holds the longer ear and a cup that holds the shorter so neither slip)…
• and affix the upper/thermostat side of that hose first as it’s the most occluded and you want the most hose freedom…orienting it onto the thermostat is easiest from under the car…though the clamp work is easiest from the top
• the bottom portion of the hose has a long painted stripe that lines up with a protrusion on the radiator inlet…bottom hose seemed to require one of the cable extendo hose clamp pliers due to sway bar occluding access somewhat…also the new hose seems to be thicker rubber than old…the clamp is QUITE stretched holding it on there
• Double check hose clamps are all on and look good.

 

[highfructose]

Coolant refill

• Attach a no-spill funnel to the radiator filler neck….they tend to have a little metallic radiator cap that is similar to oem…and that torques a little plastic fitting w o ring into the radiator fill spout…then the no spill funnel screws into that. This is slower in a sense but since the mixing happens at the same place as the fill and doesn’t spill it may not be.
• I got about a gallon and a half in before fluid stopped being sucked in…pumped upper rad hose w bit…moved water in no spill but didn’t appreciably suck more coolant
• Slowly pour coolant into the funnel until it fills the radiator and engine block completely.
• Overfill slightly to account for air pockets (I Went maybe 2 inches above max on the expansion tank).
• BE CAREFUL W EXPANSION TANK LID. It has a flat little rubber gasket inside that’s just pressed in…it comes loose and can fall into the engine bay, get stuck in the bottom of the fan shroud, etc.
• Fill expansion tank (takes about 32 oz so you can make its own little mix with a medium to large measuring cup).
• Bleeding Air from the System
• Compress the upper radiator hose periodically to release trapped air bubbles….this doesn’t appear to need to be excessive…I squeezeEd maybe 4 times and then further squeezing didn’t actually add any coolant…and I tried for a while.
• Start the engine and turn the heater to maximum hot (to dash vents and rear?) This opens the heater valve, allowing coolant flow through the heater core….i think you have to run it until the thermostat cycles…meaning up to temperature. I think you may know when it occurs when the top radiator hose becomes hard?
• Rev the engine between 2,000–3,000 RPM for about 10 minutes to circulate coolant and push out air bubbles….
• CHECK TEMP, CHECK COOLANT, SQUEEZE UPPER HOSE…keep doing that over and over as you mess with other things.
• Double check you re-rivet any plastic bits you popped out for easier access to things
• Check for bubbles in the funnel; continue until no bubbles emerge and heater blows hot air at idle.
• Refill coolant as needed during this process.
• Wrap paper towels around the base of the no spill radiator (the coolant between its close valve and the top of your radiator is going to spill when you remove it)
• Replace the radiator cap once bleeding is complete.
• Top off the overflow tank slightly above full to account for expansion when hot..I went maybe 2 inches…after the morning drive it was back to the max level so I assume that 2” at the top cycled in during the drive.
• Ensure expansion tank cap is secure
• Additional Notes
• The LX570 does not have a dedicated bleeder valve; it self-bleeds continuously during operation.
• This process seemed easier and murkier than I expected. Seemed too easy. Feels like I missed something in bleeding process.
• Double check you re-rivet any plastic bits you popped out for easier access to things
  • Test drive and monitor coolant levels over the next few days, topping off if necessary…the expansion tank dropped by 4-6 oz at a time perhaps 3 times
  • The legit silver “duct tape” solution to hold the fan shroud in lieu of the broken mounting bolt seems to be working very well…no seeming degradation of the tape over a few days and hundreds of miles…will check monthly as I check coolant levels
• 
  
  Skid plates and battery
  
  • Check under vehicle for leaks.
  • Test drive vehicle and watch temp to ensure thermostat is working and it’s not leaking.
  • Reinstall skid plates
  • Paint bolts once installed to indicate where they’re supposed to go and what size they are if you prefer
  • Reinstall engine covers
• 
  
  This process should take about 4–5 hours though some have indicated they can do it in 1-2….if I knew exactly which tools I would need before I started (which extensions etc) this could be a 1-2 hr job.

 

[t4r2lx570]

I'm about to start tackling this today, and I'm going to go slow. I appreciate you writing all of this and posting it. I know that was a lot of work.

Do you feel like the loss of ATF fluid is small enough not to worry about adding any?

On the coolant refill, when you say you got about a 1 and 1/2 gallons in before it stopped sucking, do you mean simply pouring in through the no-spill funnel? After that you say you "slowly pour coolant into the funnel" until it fills the radiator and block. This part confused me a bit.

Just wondering do I primarily fill through the no-spill funnel, and that ends up going to the overflow tank on its own until it's around 2 inches above full? Then you completely fill the expansion tank separately as you squeeze hoses to bleed air, and then run the engine/heater?

Should we worry about draining coolant from the engine block also?

I may be making it more complicated in my head than I need to!

 

[highfructose]

I'm about to start tackling this today, and I'm going to go slow. I appreciate you writing all of this and posting it. I know that was a lot of work.

Do you feel like the loss of ATF fluid is small enough not to worry about adding any?

On the coolant refill, when you say you got about a 1 and 1/2 gallons in before it stopped sucking, do you mean simply pouring in through the no-spill funnel? After that you say you "slowly pour coolant into the funnel" until it fills the radiator and block. This part confused me a bit.

Just wondering do I primarily fill through the no-spill funnel, and that ends up going to the overflow tank on its own until it's around 2 inches above full? Then you completely fill the expansion tank separately as you squeeze hoses to bleed air, and then run the engine/heater?

Should we worry about draining coolant from the engine block also?

I may be making it more complicated in my head than I need to!

-people online indicated atf fluid loss is minimal and not to be worried about. I went with that…didn’t seem like I lost much, but what do I know. Of importance on that front though: transmission fluid lines affixed to the radiator shroud may be under tension…so don’t loosen your radiator shroud until you’ve removed the transmission fluid lines from it…because those lines might wrench and crack the mounting ears for the shroud (like mine did)…I ended up using professional grade duct tape to partially mount the radiator shroud…rather than spending $120 plus the time to get it and install…will see how that works. Also don’t get too excited and jam sharpies too far into those transmission lines…I fought getting mine out because, in an abundance of caution against leaking, I jammed those sharpies in there good.

-I got 1-1.5 gallons in before I could no longer get more in over the course of 30 minutes of attempting to burp the system if I remember correctly. Im pretty sure I didn’t get any more in after the recommended 15 minutes or so that running/burping…and I used the radiator fill tool so, if I remember correctly, the system would sort of suck coolant out of it as the thermostat cycled the coolant system…so you fill that funnel thing up and it sits, filled to some degree, on top of your radiator…and as the car runs it sucks fluid down out of it…it sort of keeps coolant on tap/in a hopper there so as the system needs it it can suck more in…as it gets low, you can slowly refill it to keep the funnel (functioning like the hopper in a paintball gun) filled such that the system can suck coolant in as it needs it…and since it has a valve you can “turn it off”/stop the availability of coolant to the radiator temporarily while you carefully/slowly add distilled water and concentrated antifreeze…then once your measured/mixed coolant is refilled, you can turn the valve/tap back on and the radiator again has access to properly mixed coolant as it cycles/burps. the radiator fill tool/funnel system is like 15-20 dollars and worth it imo. Makes measuring/mixing easier and reduces (but doesn’t eliminate) spillage while also allowing the system to take as much coolant as it wants….i think I got a few (not many) more ounces in the days following…indicating I think there were small minimal non burped areas in the system post 30 minutes of burping…but they were so small that I don’t think they were significant…the overflow tank never got low enough to be a concern…I could have probably just left it as it was…the 6-8 oz I added in the following days likely wouldn’t have had an impact long term….and I may have also filled the expansion tank before adding the radiator fill tool…seems like the kind of thing I would do and I don’t know that it would hurt. The radiator fill tool is mostly about ensuring there is enough mixed coolant in tap that as the system burps itself, it has more coolant ready to pull in.

I didn’t worry about the engine block…my long term plan is to start draining radiator again during oil changes or perhaps every other…coolant is cheap and, as the engine/seals ages, I suspect it is the simplest way to stay ahead of coolant related issues…. The coolant will be, if I regularly change it, being completely flushed more than necessary that way.

It’s sort of like transmission fluid changes…a full flush is a hassle…but if you just do a partial drain more regularly, in the long run, the full more complicated flush likely isn’t necessary.

 

[t4r2lx570]

Thank you for the added detail!