Antifreeze dilemma - need input

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

LockedNLoaded

LockedNLoaded

10 Year
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Threads
37
Messages
532
Location
Raleigh, NC
Currently, my 2000 LX has 164,800 on it. I bought the rig at 160k back in August. The previous owner had the timing belt replaced at 160k with full documentation. So it's my assumption that the antifreeze was last changed then. Currently, it has the green in it and I certainly know the consensus on here is to go with Toyota Red. I have always had toyotas and honestly I have had engines that were only on red and others that were only on green, never had any issues either way.

Now the PO did have records showing that the antifreeze was changed a few times, but the receipts don't say what type of antifreeze was used, so I assume it was the green. I have always heard that once it's been switched to green you kinda have to stay with the green. So today for whatever reason I decided to drain the radiator a bit to look at that the fluid. What I found concerns me because the fluid appears to be mixed. It's obvious the fluid is mostly green, but it's not straight green. So I poured some new antifreeze in a glass to compare and I would say the current fluid in the radiator has a slight orange tint to it. If I had to guess I would say it looks like 95% green and 5% red. Sorry I didn't take pics.

However, I don't know for sure how long the green has been in there. There is the off chance it has only been in there for the last 5k. Should I flush it out and stay green or switch to the red?

I have a friend that swears he blew his head gasket because he went from the green to the red and thinks he didn't flush it out enough. Thanks for the input guys.
 
I would flush it 2-3 times with water. Drain completely and fill with Toyota pre-mix. You'll not get 100% drained on each flush, but after a couple of flushes you'll have her clean enough. If you tend toward acd, after draining the radiator and the two valves on the block, you could yank the oil cooler hose in back of the oil filter, as well as the 2 hoses leading from the engine down to the rear heater under the driver's seat.

hth

Steve
 
If it's run on green then stay green. I know that mixing isn't good. If for your own peace of mind you want to flush out and replace with red then have at it. prestone makes a flush kit that you can buy at autozone. stick a garden hose in for 5 mins or so.
 
Come on guys, it's just antifreeze. While I wouldn't mix unless I had to, if they are up to spec they are all good.
 
Let's all chill, it's coolant. I'd say get the red / pink in there and then do it again in 15k miles.

I ran brackish river water through my boat engine for 10 years before the exhaust manifolds rusted, a little difference in coolant will probably be okay in the long run.
 
LandCruiserPhil said:
The problem is they are all not up to spec for Toyota's.
http://mastertechmag.com/pdf/2006/nov/mt200611_choosingantifreeze.pdf

Toyota red was designed for Toyota's and not for ever other vehicle. As for blowing a HG by mixing Im not buying it.
Im with hankinid in post #2
Click to expand...

Seems like every manufacturer makes that same claim. If so, how many formulations are there out there? My guess is that it's just plain marketing. Case in point - I flushed and changed the coolant in my 1998 100 every fall for 16 years with Prestone. When I lived in small town Alaska I didn't have access to Toyotas miracle coolant so I went with what was available. My radiator never failed even after taking a pounding and deep freezing for all those years. Water pumps were changed with every new timing belt but that was it. Heater core never had any issues. Truck still ran like new when I sold it. Good enough for me.
 
Last edited:
stonepa said:
Seems like every manufacturer makes that same claim. If so, how many formulations are there out there? My guess is that it's just plain marketing. Case in point - I changed the coolant in my 1998 100 every fall for 16 years with Prestone. When I lived in small town Alaska I didn't have access to Toyotas miracle coolant so I went with what was available. My radiator never failed even after taking a pounding for all those years. Water pumps were changed with every new timing belt but that was it. Heater core never had any issues. Truck still ran like new when I sold it. Good enough for me.
Click to expand...

The answer to your question is in the linked article.

Glad you were trouble free using Prestone. I sure guys have driven Range Rover for years with little problems but Im not risking it. Not saying Prestone is bad I just a believer in Toyota and the engineering that goes with it. YMMV
 
Why not just stick with what's spec'ed? Red. Flushing it is never a bad idea if you don't know the history and then you have another excuse to climb around it and inspect other sh it.
 
Last edited:
LandCruiserPhil said:
The answer to your question is in the linked article.

Glad you were trouble free using Prestone. I sure guys have driven Range Rover for years with little problems but Im not risking it. Not saying Prestone is bad I just a believer in Toyota and the engineering that goes with it. YMMV
Click to expand...

Actually, the article seems to verify exactly what he's saying:

"I flushed and changed the coolant in my 1998 100 every fall for 16 years with Prestone." ~ stonepa

"The only thing that’s wrong with this [green] stuff is that its
inhibitor package becomes depleted over time, hence
the two-year interval mentioned. ... We think it’s just fine as long as
you remind your customers to have regular fluid
maintenance done."

"Conventional American green will work fine on older
domestics and Asians, and is actually a pretty good
choice for retrofit on anything as long as the
customer is willing to have some minimal fluid
maintenance done."

Your vehicle, put what you want in it...but the article doesn't say anything about green being a bad choice (given regular maintenance).
 
Bubba68CS said:
Actually, the article seems to verify exactly what he's saying:

"I flushed and changed the coolant in my 1998 100 every fall for 16 years with Prestone." ~ stonepa

"The only thing that’s wrong with this [green] stuff is that its
inhibitor package becomes depleted over time, hence
the two-year interval mentioned. ... We think it’s just fine as long as
you remind your customers to have regular fluid
maintenance done."

"Conventional American green will work fine on older
domestics and Asians, and is actually a pretty good
choice for retrofit on anything as long as the
customer is willing to have some minimal fluid
maintenance done."

Your vehicle, put what you want in it...but the article doesn't say anything about green being a bad choice (given regular maintenance).
Click to expand...

stoepa question was - If so, how many formulations are there out there?

The article does answer his question:meh:

My quote from post #8 - Not saying Prestone is bad I just a believer in Toyota and the engineering that goes with it. YMMV :meh:

:worms:
 
I'll say that I've let the green stuff go long in my Ford and you can just look at the fluid and tell it's time to change.

The red coolant in my 100 always looks good (still change every 30k miles). So maybe the Toyota fluid is superior quality.... Based on my eyeball science.
 
LandCruiserPhil said:
stoepa question was - If so, how many formulations are there out there?

The article does answer his question:meh:

My quote from post #8 - Not saying Prestone is bad I just a believer in Toyota and the engineering that goes with it. YMMV :meh:

:worms:
Click to expand...

I was more commenting toward your analogy of having good luck with green coolant being the same as having good luck with a Land Rover...
 
Toyota specs the red coolant in order to extend change intervals, thus, the "spec" is built around that.

Way back (way, waaaay back) when I was playing Toyota mechanic, the rule of thumb was: warranty work - red coolant. Customer pay - whatever the dealer used (green) unless the customer specified otherwise (and was willing to pay the additional cost for the red over the green coolant or supply their own). In many years, I did not see any coolant-related failures to cooling or heating systems on any Toyota or other make. Neglect? Yes. Weak coolant? Yes.

My wife's 2004 Echo had the factory fill red coolant in it up until summer. I had religiously checked the freeze/boiling point and it was good for 10 years, 200,000 kms (it's a Canada-market hatch). I just recently changed it because it was getting a tad weak for winter. Coming out, it was super clean (gotta love getting away from iron blocks and heads and copper radiators!). I did replace it with Toyota 50/50 pre-mix because..................

........I'm lazy.
 
Toyota Red may cost a little more but the end results are what you want. Go cheap now and pay later.
 
red isn't pink (like the stuff the fjc and taco's take) but isn't red concentrated and needing dilution (vs the 50/50 which says pink)...which sorta makes it "pink"

if you're just filling a reservoir or whatever (gallon at most) would pink not suffice and would mixing the types be cool? Asking this for the sake of asking. I'm a big believer in oem spec, but red would need to be diluted with distilled water or whatever, as I understand it...and if you "diluted" it, wouldn't it sorta be, toyota 50/50 pink??
 
blatant said:
red isn't pink (like the stuff the fjc and taco's take) but isn't red concentrated and needing dilution (vs the 50/50 which says pink)...which sorta makes it "pink"

if you're just filling a reservoir or whatever (gallon at most) would pink not suffice and would mixing the types be cool? Asking this for the sake of asking. I'm a big believer in oem spec, but red would need to be diluted with distilled water or whatever, as I understand it...and if you "diluted" it, wouldn't it sorta be, toyota 50/50 pink??
Click to expand...

Yes but don't mix it with other types other than Toyota red or pink.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom