EVEN WORSE: NOT RESOLVED: HELP: What blew up?!

[Ayune]

Coolant level must be verified in the actual radiator. it should be up to the neck when cold.

The overflow tank does not show coolant level in the system. It holds coolant that has exceeded system capacity at some time in the past.

1. Park with front slightly uphill if possible
2. Fill radiator with Toyota or Zerex Aisan red coolant
3. Start engine and turn on heaters, front & rear if you have it
4. When engine reaches operating temp the thermostat will open and likely suck coolant from radiator into system
5. refill radiator as needed as coolant gets sucked into engine
6. when heaters are blowing hot and radiator can't take any more fluid, install cap, turn off engine, and let cool. Fluid will likely overflow into bottle as it cools.

 

[Eicca]

Additional tip: There's a plug on the top of the throttle body that will come off with either a big socket or big allen wrench. Open this up and it'll let you vent air from the coolant system up there, higher than the radiator cap.

 

[AlpineAccess]

I'd take a deep breathe, its ok and you don't need to worry about it.

It's concerning to see the high temp light, but you're going to find you just had some air in the system that stopped coolant flow very briefly and no damage was done. You caught it quickly, but even so it takes a lot of heat for more than a minute or two to cause damage.

 

[MongooseGA]

This is a much better problem to have than the brake fluid reservoir popping.

Hopefully an easy DIY where you're at.

When I had a '99 LX, one of my tees blew within a few weeks of taking ownership. I was pulled to the side in a neighborhood and saw the steam billowing. Had to uber to the dealer, got the goods, and borrowed tools and a hose from the house I was parked in front of.

 

[Rooki]

Fill it up to the top of the radiator and "burp" the air by squeezing the main radiator hoses.

Thank you for this answer. SO appreciated. Question — which hose is it I should burp? Where is it? Also, all they have locally in stock is Prestone and Zerex Geo 5 or Zerex Dex. It's NAPA shop, they looked the vehicle up and the specced stuff they don't have....

 

[suprarx7nut]

Thank you for this answer. SO apreciated. Question — which hose is it I should burp? Where is it?

The big one coming off the top of the radiator.

Don't sweat details of the burp event. It should sort itself out. The big thing here is that you didn't top off the radiator.

Top off the radiator now (once it's cool) and you should be fine.

 

[NoVaGator]

I think you're going to find that you have very little coolant in the radiator.

When you have steam like you got yesterday, you're boiling off coolant. It takes low coolant to get to that point, and once it starts steaming it's like a runaway process.

 

[Rooki]

The big one coming off the top of the radiator.

Don't sweat details of the burp event. It should sort itself out. The big thing here is that you didn't top off the radiator.

Top off the radiator now (once it's cool) and you should be fine.

Okay, thanks — the only parts place near here only has Zerex Geo 5, Zerex Dex and Prestone in stock. Any suggestion about any of these and mixing with God only knows what's in there (if I had to guess I'd say it was red)?

 

[Eighteen11R]

Thank you for this answer. SO appreciated. Question — which hose is it I should burp? Where is it? Also, all they have locally in stock is Prestone and Zerex Geo 5 or Zerex Dex. It's NAPA shop, they looked the vehicle up and the specced stuff they don't have....

Go with distilled water until you you can get the YODA stuff...

 

[suprarx7nut]

Okay, thanks — the only parts place near here only has Zerex Geo 5, Zerex Dex and Prestone in stock. Any suggestion about any of these and mixing with God only knows what's in there (if I had to guess I'd say it was red)?

Personally, I'd do straight water - preferably distilled.

 

[MongooseGA]

Okay, thanks — the only parts place near here only has Zerex Geo 5, Zerex Dex and Prestone in stock. Any suggestion about any of these and mixing with God only knows what's in there (if I had to guess I'd say it was red)?

Zerex is good stuff and is the only brand of coolant old Benz owners like me will use (G-05, btw ). They made a 'red' version for Japanese cars. I've run it in my '05 LX before but recently dumped it for the OEM pink (03+ I think?). I kept the clean Zerex on hand as a back-up should I ever be short on Mr. T's pink.

The suggestion of distilled water only is also a good option, and will be much easier to find and much cheaper than Zerex.

You've got this. You did what was right and made sure your best friend was safe before anything else, found the problem, and determined an easy (yet inconvenient) solution. Years from now you'll think back to this and chuckle.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

What on earth did I do wrong? the coolant level in the reservoir was only about two inches from the max line. I didn't check the radiator itself. Was it a mistake to think that there was enough coolant in there?

Yes, and you also likely have air in the system from when the T broke. The reservoir is just an overflow tank for expansion/contraction of the coolant based on engine heating/cooling cycles. Considering the amount of steam pouring out from under your hood yesterday, I'd be surprised if there's much coolant left in the radiator or anywhere else in the cooling system.

Do you have any water with you? If so, let the engine completely cool for a few hours, then remove the radiator cap and fill it to the brim with water. Then burp the system and replace radiator cap.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

Okay, thanks — the only parts place near here only has Zerex Geo 5, Zerex Dex and Prestone in stock. Any suggestion about any of these and mixing with God only knows what's in there (if I had to guess I'd say it was red)?

Just use any type of water for now. Preferably distilled but if you don't have distilled, tap or drinking water are good enough to get you out of the situation.

 

[AlpineAccess]

Zerex Asian is what you want. Borate and silicate free stuff.

Or water. Everyone else has already given you good advice on distilled first, but case water or whatever you can get will work for a few hundred miles to get home.

You're best off using water if you don't know what was in it, and doing a flush and all new coolant at home when you can. Mixing coolants can cause gelling.

Give us an update when you can.

 

[geargarcon]

Zerex Asian is what you want. Borate and silicate free stuff.

Or water. Everyone else has already given you good advice on distilled first, but case water or whatever you can get will work for a few hundred miles to get home.

You're best off using water if you don't know what was in it, and doing a flush and all new coolant at home when you can. Mixing coolants can cause gelling.

Give us an update when you can.

I’m trying to find info on this. The shop I was at just replaced my radiator and refilled with universal yellow coolant instead of Toyota red like I had been doing and I doubt they flushed all of the red out. Is this going to cause a problem. This is the only comment I’ve been able to find referring to the mixing of coolants.

Am I going to need to go back and flush everything?

 

[JunkCrzr89]

I’m trying to find info on this. The shop I was at just replaced my radiator and refilled with universal yellow coolant instead of Toyota red like I had been doing and I doubt they flushed all of the red out. Is this going to cause a problem. This is the only comment I’ve been able to find referring to the mixing of coolants.

Am I going to need to go back and flush everything?

Flush it out asap. This is what happens when you mix coolant types (this was red + green mix over just a handful of heat and cool cycles):

 

[geargarcon]

Flush it out asap. This is what happens when you mix coolant types (this was red + green mix over just a handful of heat and cool cycles):

View attachment 3017560

Thanks…. This is what I was afraid of………..

I’ve been doing a lot of reading tonight. Now is there a difference in composition of different coolants? I read that it may be ok to mix red+yellow but not red+green.

And is there any problem if they actually did a complete flush and now it has just universal yellow in it?

 

[JunkCrzr89]

Now is there a difference in composition of different coolants

Yellow is HOAT and contains silicates. Red/pink is OAT and does not contain silicates, which is what is required for ~1994 and later Toyota cooling systems.

I read that it may be ok to mix red+yellow but not red+green.

Everything I’ve ever read says do not ever mix different coolant types. You can however mix different brands of the same coolant type (e.g., Zerex red and Pentofrost red).

And is there any problem if they actually did a complete flush and now it has just universal yellow in it?

Short-term, probably not, assuming they flushed about 20 gallons of water through the system to completely clear out all the red (unlikely they did). Long-term, yes, the yellow could theoretically shorten the lifespan of some cooling system parts.

 

[geargarcon]

Yellow is HOAT and contains silicates. Red/pink is OAT and does not contain silicates, which is what is required for ~1994 and later Toyota cooling systems.


Everything I’ve ever read says do not ever mix different coolant types. You can however mix different brands of the same coolant type (e.g., Zerex red and Pentofrost red).


Short-term, probably not, assuming they flushed about 20 gallons of water through the system to completely clear out all the red (unlikely they did). Long-term, yes, the yellow could theoretically shorten the lifespan of some cooling system parts.

Thank you for your thorough replies. They are greatly appreciated.

 

[geargarcon]

Yellow is HOAT and contains silicates. Red/pink is OAT and does not contain silicates, which is what is required for ~1994 and later Toyota cooling systems.


Everything I’ve ever read says do not ever mix different coolant types. You can however mix different brands of the same coolant type (e.g., Zerex red and Pentofrost red).


Short-term, probably not, assuming they flushed about 20 gallons of water through the system to completely clear out all the red (unlikely they did). Long-term, yes, the yellow could theoretically shorten the lifespan of some cooling system parts.

So I just got off of the phone with the shop and they “flushed” it using their machine before putting in the yellow.

I’m getting the shop to flush the coolant system and put in Toyota red. In your experience are the vacuum flushing machines sufficient at completely flushing the system? It seems I’m going to have to have distilled water run through the system which he said they don’t do.