Another Coolant Flush 2018

[prharper]

Post 1 of 3
Decided to replace coolant in my 2018 LC 200. Coolant was 6 yrs old with 62k miles. Toyota recommends 10yr or 100k for first swap. Researched some other threads and decided to document the steps and clarify a few things.

Had to remove front Rhino bumper bash plate. Initially tried just pulling off the front Budbuilt skid but the way it interlocks with the BB stainless steel engine skid requires also removing the engine skid. Skipped that and went bank to taking off front bash plate.

Cleaned up the drain valve. Loosened by hand.

Kept radiator cap and radiator reservoir cap closed. This allowed the radiator reservoir to drain out of the radiator drain cock plug.

Removed radiator cap, got a little over 1 1/2 gallons to to drain

Cont. on next post.

 

[prharper]

Next, need to drain from each side of the engine.

Lifted driver side up for easier access to Cylinder Block Drain Cock Plug. Passenger side is much easy to get to.
Used silicon tube attached to a wood dowel and place on the drain nipple.
Used 24 inch extension with swivel head and 10mm socket.
I previously sprayed the drain cock plugs with Kroil a few days prior to help alleviate any potential stuck plug. They are brass and torque spec is 10 lbs. So if they don't loosen fairly easily, I would skip. Mine were fine.

Note: that's water on my driveway from rain and not coolant.

Jacked up opposite side to get more fluid to drain out of driver side block.

I was really surprised how much coolant came out of the cylinder block.
Before I tightened the drain, I sprayed some rust preventative on the drain valve.

Most of the engine block coolant came out on the first side I did (driver side). In hindsight, I would do passenger side first as it's easier to get to.
I got about a quart out of the passenger side, as it was done last.



Cont on next post.

 

[prharper]

On to the fun part.

Used Airlift to test for any leaks and coolant fill-up.

Added 25 PSI of air, you can see main coolant hose collapse. Left for a few mins and PSI didn't change so no leaks in system.

Bled fill hose of air and then opened valve to fill system with almost 3 gallons of coolant. Added coolant to reservoir to the Full mark.

Pic of new coolant and a gallon of old coolant.

Started truck, turned front and rear heater on. Drove truck over to nearby landfill and disposed old fluid at the recycling center.
Got the truck up to temp, around 190 for me, thermostat opened blowing hot air. Massaged the radiator hose.

Old fluid was still in pretty good shape.

Pretty easy job. Bought 4 gallons of SLLC coolant at local dealer. Only need 3 gallons.

 

[ryanCA]

Will there be any other threads in this forum besides the daily coolant flush content ?

 

[dudemancool1904]

Will there be any other threads in this forum besides the daily coolant flush content ?

Coolant flush, clear glass>tint, and what tire will clear. We are doomed.

 

[gasman4u]

Great write up. Thank you! Does anyone know total volume of coolant in the system? I’ve seen 17.6 qts mentioned.

I was really hoping that the radiator/reservoir tank would approximate half the total volume. That doesn’t seem accurate if 17.6 qts is the total volume of the system.

 

[prharper]

Per FSM:
Standard Capacity:
16.7 liters (17.6 US qts, 14.7 Imp. qts)

 

[gasman4u]

Per FSM:
Standard Capacity:
16.7 liters (17.6 US qts, 14.7 Imp. qts)

Thanks for this.

Looks like the radiator "spill and fill" plan I had assuming (incorrectly) 50% system capacity would be changed needs to be modified. Law of diminishing returns and all that given only 7 qts approx. would be changed with every radiator spill and fill. If I could get to 9+ qts using this method, I'd be all about it. Unfortunately it looks like you indeed have to use the drain plugs to get the majority of coolant out.

@prharper did a thorough job with draining (tilting, etc) and still only got about 12 qts out. Which would still leave about 25% of the old coolant (4.6qts approx). Not a small volume IMO given all the steps he took in draining the system.