Best way to completely empty all coolant/water out of engine? (1 Viewer)

[RT Cruiser]

I'm doing a lot of maintenance on the '08 LC we purchased in late June. In the past week I emptied the coolant out of the radiator via the radiator drain spout and re-filled with distilled water. The last time I emptied the radiator I let the engine run a few mins to empty more fluid from the top with a very close eye on the dash engine thermometer. Refilled with distilled water. I've driven about 20 miles the past few days and refilled the reservoir as needed. Wed or Thur I'm going to install new hoses, cap, thermostat, and fresh antifreeze/coolant.

If I empty the radiator, remove the thermostat, and loosen both engine-coolant drain plugs, will this empty all the fluid in the engine/heater core?

If I do the above procedure, uncouple the top hose at the radiator connection, then pour distilled water into the engine via the top hose, will this help flush out any remaining fluid/coolant?

It appears the thermostat is easy to access for removal. Is this true?

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Did you drain the two banks of the block?

 

[RT Cruiser]

Did you drain the two banks of the block?

I didn’t drain from the two block drains. My plan is to flush with distilled water again (and using the block drains) before I install the thermostat.

I’m curious how, after the above, to empty all fluid out before I pour in fresh antifreeze.

What would you do?

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

I didn’t drain from the two block drains. My plan is to flush with distilled water again (and using the block drains) before I install the thermostat.

I’m curious how, after the above, to empty all fluid out before I pour in fresh antifreeze.

What would you do?

Honestly brother, you’ll never get it all out. There will always be some residual in there. Part of the reason why Toyota says to replace the coolant at 100,000 miles, but then every 50,000 after that.

That’s not a bad thing on Toyota, that’s just engines. Every motor I’ve rebuilt, I tried so hard to get it all out and there is always coolant and oil messing up the floor afterward.

The good news is that I think your motor will not see a mile less of reliable service. If it was mine, don’t think I would of put strait water in but simply dumped and filled. It kinda goes back to that you’ve lower the coolant mix and, well... you never get it all out. So when you dump it all next time then fill, you won’t get back to 50/50 mix that Toyota Super Long Life has. But honestly, you’ll be so close that your motor won’t care. It really won’t, a couple cups of not having rust inhibitors in a 3 gallon system is insignificant.

I would just dump from the three ports and refill. Burp as needed and you will have many more happy years of service.

Good stuff on keeping that 200 going! Love seeing ‘08s running as good as ‘20s. A testament to the vehicle and it’s owner.

 

[tominboise]

How hard is the access to the three ports ( radiator drain and the two block drains)? If one is going to change the water pump at 125k, does one need to drain and fill with new coolant at 100k? Are people doing both (drain and fill at 100k, then again at 125k)?

 

[OffRoad911]

Sorry for introducing my own issue on your thread. My mechanic filled the radiator with normal tap water and I would like to drain the entire system too and refill it with a proper anti freeze for the UK market. Any tips on the do's and don'ts? I own a 1983 Land Cruiser BJ40 with a 13B-T engine. Is there a specific process I should follow? I was going to drain the plugs near the radiator and fill her up with the new fluid. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 2119707

 

[tominboise]

Sorry for introducing my own issue on your thread. My mechanic filled the radiator with normal tap water and I would like to drain the entire system too and refill it with a proper anti freeze for the UK market. Any tips on the do's and don'ts? I own a 1983 Land Cruiser BJ40 with a 13B-T engine. Is there a specific process I should follow? I was going to drain the plugs near the radiator and fill her up with the new fluid. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 2119707

You should ask this question in the 40 series forum....

40 series tech forum - click here

 

[CruiserFan88]

I had the same question regarding draining and then postponing the waterpump/radiator replacement, but ultimately I changed everything same time at 100k. I would wait to flush and fill when you revamp the entire cooling system. Granted, if you can find the fluid cheap on amazon its wouldnt take long to flush and fill to get another 25k miles. My 08 had some leakage forming around the waterpump with no indication of it being replaced prior so I chose to do it all. I chose to pass on the engine block drains as they seemed too tedious to mess with for not much benefit and I was thinking if i broke one for any reason what a pain it would be to mend (hard pass). Check the "repairs" area as i'm pretty sure some guys have provided info including diagrams showing how to locate the block drains. After changing everything I filled the new radiator with water from the garden hose, let the system fill, car heat up and run allowing thermostat to open and let it circulate checking for leaks in the meantime. After that, flushed from the bottom radiator valve and filled with Super Long Life. About a month after replacing everything I checked the reservoir level and it had dropped about a cup, so I filled it up back to max and its been about 6 months no issues. I attribute the cup loss to trapped water that most likely evaporated out.

 

[RT Cruiser]

The good news is that I think your motor will not see a mile less of reliable service. If it was mine, don’t think I would of put strait water in but simply dumped and filled. It kinda goes back to that you’ve lower the coolant mix and, well... you never get it all out. So when you dump it all next time then fill, you won’t get back to 50/50 mix that Toyota Super Long Life has. But honestly, you’ll be so close that your motor won’t care. It really won’t, a couple cups of not having rust inhibitors in a 3 gallon system is insignificant.

I would just dump from the three ports and refill. Burp as needed and you will have many more happy years of service.

Good stuff on keeping that 200 going! Love seeing ‘08s running as good as ‘20s. A testament to the vehicle and it’s owner.

@Taco2Cruiser - thank you! That makes a lot of sense. I'll do as planned in the next few days and move on to other maintenance things. Just to clarify, we haven't owned this since 2008 but since June 2019. But thank you anyway for the kind words! We take care of our vehicles in the manner we drive them, maintain them, and protect them (dash cams).