o’rielly green coolant? (1 Viewer)

[maxamillion2345]

The premix is easier I guess but it comes at a decent premium. Buy a cheap pitcher or something and pour half water half straight coolant into it, then pour that into rad. Keep going until its full. Its not chemistry hah, if its a little skewed it’ll be alright.

Or spend the extra cash for the convenience, I guess.

Either way, its a 20 year old Toyota and its not going to the moon, don’t overthink it.

 

[Bludozer]

its not going to the moon, don’t overthink it.

Speak for yourself I'm only 6k miles away

 

[Cruzerman]

I'll throw in another suggestion. Add a bottle of water wetter. It will lower your temps and add some additional corrosion fighters.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Yup ^ Water wetter is only effective when you run a water heavy mix though. It will help with a 50/50 mix but nowhere near as much as it will with a 15/85 or 25/75 mix. Either way its not a bad way to spend 10 bucks.

 

[Tools R Us]

Can't tell ya off the top of my head but theres a handy little book in your glove box that will

edit, found this in a 30 second search:

View attachment 1959519

So, the full/dry capacity is close to 4gal. The question is how to get it empty? After a drain/flush it usually takes ~2.5gal-ish to fill it. This is one of the reasons I prefer concentrate, if you want 50% add 2gal, 25% 1 gal and top with water. If filled with 50% it will be somewhere around 25%?

 

[MoJ]

There’s a great coolant flush thread in the FAQ. Follow it and you’ll be golden.

 

[chuckd83]

If you have red in there currently then only add toyota red. If you have green in there you can run green. Don't mix red and green as it can create a sludge.

Run a MAX 50%/50% water/glycol (coolant) mix. Coolant aids mainly in freeze protection, distilled H2O has a better specific heat capacity than coolant which means it is better at carrying heat out of the engine per unit of flow. In the summer I run a 25% coolant 75% distilled H2O mix.

Why not run 100% water in the summer?

 

[Cruzerman]

Why not run 100% water in the summer?

That is a possibility. However, while straight water does cool better, a 50 / 50 mixture works just fine in a system that is working properly (at least out here in Oregon). Plus where I live, I've been camping in the mountains as late as May/June or as early as September and had a good hard freeze. May be worth it to a few, just not me.

If you do run straight water, I'd be sure to add some anti-rust protection.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Why not run 100% water in the summer?

Ethylene Glycol (Coolant) has anti-corrosive additives and lubricating properties that keep your water pump happy and your coolant passages free of corrosion. Any mix of glycol over ~15-20% provides acceptable levels of corrosion protection.

Additionally adding coolant increases the boiling temp of the total mix because it has solutes held in suspension.

You can, and people do, run just straight water with water wetter additives that introduce lubricant and anti-corrosive properties (which because it's a solution also raises the boiling point), I've seen many drag cars run this way.

If you are interested in more of the science behind this I painstakingly detailed it all in the "Evans Waterless Coolant" thread:
Evans Waterless coolant

 

[Wompom]

So, the full/dry capacity is close to 4gal. The question is how to get it empty? After a drain/flush it usually takes ~2.5gal-ish to fill it. This is one of the reasons I prefer concentrate, if you want 50% add 2gal, 25% 1 gal and top with water. If filled with 50% it will be somewhere around 25%?

Right, but if a shop is doing this for him i'm really hoping they do a proper fill/flush and get more than 2.5 gallons out.
OP, make sure they know there is a engine block drain as well as a radiator drain!

 

[ZackR]

Its a lot easier to maintain a ratio that will cover any and all temperatures you will see rather than trying to adjust for a thinner mix (more water) in the summer and a thicker mix (more antifreeze) in the winter. Not many folks need to do this and if they do they already know about it from living in extreme climates.

I personally run the Prestone green concentrate since its widely available and cheaper than 50/50mix.

 

[SmokingRocks]

You are exactly correct. I just happen to be a geek about some things and like to give my rig every little advantage.

 

[GetNRekt]

The premix isn't any easier. I live in North Carolina so wanted a bit more water than coolant. I simply dumped in 2 gallons of distilled water, 1 gallon of concentrate and then half a gallon of the last concentrate. Let the truck heat up, burped the radiator a few times, and topped off the radiator and overflow tank. It ended up right at the full line on the overflow tank, and radiator is full.

 

[ZackR]

The premix isn't any easier. I live in North Carolina so wanted a bit more water than coolant. I simply dumped in 2 gallons of distilled water, 1 gallon of concentrate and then half a gallon of the last concentrate. Let the truck heat up, burped the radiator a few times, and topped off the radiator and overflow tank. It ended up right at the full line on the overflow tank, and radiator is full.

On the overflow tank I like to have it at the LOW mark when cold so there is room for expansion. When hot the level will be about halfway up on the overflow and as it cools the coolant will get pulled back into the radiator.

 

[GetNRekt]

On the overflow tank I like to have it at the LOW mark when cold so there is room for expansion. When hot the level will be about halfway up on the overflow and as it cools the coolant will get pulled back into the radiator.

When the engine is fully warmed up, it's hanging out at the full mark. When cold, it's hanging out about 30% of the way up between LOW and FULL. That's normal, right?

 

[ZackR]

When the engine is fully warmed up, it's hanging out at the full mark. When cold, it's hanging out about 30% of the way up between LOW and FULL. That's normal, right?

Sounds perfect.