Thoughts on Coolant brand... (3 Viewers)

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Don't worry about using tap water for the flush. Use distilled water for the 50/50 mix.
-B-

Thanks Beo.

Just to confirm that by "Don't worry" you mean not to bother with the tap water flush, or literally not to worry of using tap water.
 
When switching from one type to another, I'll run two cycles of tap water before doing a final fill with coolant and distilled water. Make sure you run both heaters during the water cycles. Also, when running during the water cycles, don't put a lot of miles on it as coolant helps lubricate the water pump.

Buck
 
Just to confirm that by "Don't worry" you mean not to bother with the tap water flush, or literally not to worry of using tap water.

It is OK to use tap water for the flushing and for any driving before filling with 50/50 mix. IMHO, filling with distilled water and driving for a day or two would be over the top. I don't see any value to driving with tap (or distilled) water but that's just me. I guess if your cooling system looked like this one then it might make sense to someone.

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Use distilled water for the 50/50 mix.
-B-
 
Flushing the coolant cannot be overstated. Be sure you know how to back flush the heater core and rear heater core, know and use the block drain and of course know and use the radiator drain. And of course remove the thermostat during flushing. It's the most important thing you'll do on your 80 this year if you're switching types.

Personally, I'd even fill with water and run errands for the day before doing a final drain and fill that evening.

DougM


I agree with this. My truck was filed with a brown mix of red and green when I got it. Knowing I had to do the PHH at some point but not wanting to keep the brown in there a minute longer I did a flush and refill with PEAK Green (cheap and readily available).

I flushed the rad and block well and thought I got everything but apparently not as now my coolant is a more green then brown mix still.. I suspect it was the heater core that was hiding old coolant.

I like the idea of really running it around with plain wanter and flush a few times before the final drain and refill. I'm planning to do this after my PHH change (though that could turn into a preventative maintenance HG job)
 
Anybody else using the Prestone "All makes all models" coolant? I've been using this for a year after I swapped my radiator last spring. It was completely flushed including the heater core prior to swapping. I have not experienced any issues. Currently sitting at 120k miles, original HG.

I read here that it is actually very similar to Toyota red. Anyone have any info?
 
I am also "outside the box" with the Prestone you are mentioning. Other than what I've read in the FAQ section and what Robbie, (AKA Powderpig) premier 80 mechanic has to say, I'm comfortable with my choice. Being in Central Oregon, I see both cold and hot weather, not as extreme as Alaska or Arizona, but a good taste of both. I did my PHH back in Sept. when it failed finally at approx 205k miles. At that time I replaced hoses and did the good flush trick removing block plug (rig was purchased used with the "green stuff" in cooling system in 1999). At the time I was surprised at how much sludge (gray sandy goop) that came out. The dialogue in the FAQ kind of explained that, though. Original HG, brass radiator, watching maintainence and hoping for the best! :cheers:
 
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Anybody else using the Prestone "All makes all models" coolant? I've been using this for a year after I swapped my radiator last spring. It was completely flushed including the heater core prior to swapping. I have not experienced any issues. Currently sitting at 120k miles, original HG.

I read here that it is actually very similar to Toyota red. Anyone have any info?

I used toyota red in mine.

Around here plain old green is getting harder and harder to find. Most everything I am seeing in all of the auto parts places is the "all makes all models" stuff. So I wonder how much longer it will be before everyone is asking whether to use toyota red or the AMAM stuff?;)

Jack
 
Zerex and NAPA both have an original green formula - quite possibly from the same source as I hear there are limited manufacturers for the coolants in the US. Been running the Zerex in our '94 for the last 50K miles or so - flush w/ distilled water fill after purchasing it, PO had green in it , just switching to the NAPA because it's more available. No problems.
 
Forgot about that thread. Pay me now with frequent flushes or pay me later with .....
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-B-
 
Anybody else using the Prestone "All makes all models" coolant? I've been using this for a year after I swapped my radiator last spring. It was completely flushed including the heater core prior to swapping. I have not experienced any issues. Currently sitting at 120k miles, original HG.

I read here that it is actually very similar to Toyota red. Anyone have any info?

I have been using the prestone all makes coolant also and have no complaints.

I haven't seen the "green" stuff for sale here for quite a while.

Not sure if it is similar to toyota red or not though.
 
After seeing how well the "green stuff" protected mine, I'm sticking with Mr T's KoolAid.

With such obvious neglect by the PO, why do you blame the "green stuff"? Anyone who reads the FAQ on the cooling system can see that the long life coolant has it's problems and shouldn't be used in the 80. The "green stuff" that Andrew & I are referring to is Prestone All Makes and Models, not Long Life. What's important, whether you use green or red, is 1. stick with what your using and don't mix; & 2. Don't neglect your cooling system. Flush & replace at least every other year.

Reference thread: https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/45372-green-coolant-vs-red-coolant.html
 
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OK, first off YMMV. Done with the disclaimer.

If you are using some other brand of coolant, rock on. I have seen many vehicles with nasty cooling systems over the years. Do you blame the coolant or the owner? Both? In my case both with this particular 80 and other Toyotas I have owned, I put much of the onus on the coolant. After speaking with a couple of people who have way more experience with metalurgy than I do, I now understand why Toyota has a particular coolant for their vehicles. From what I gather, their coolants are formulated based on the various metals and alloys used in their engines and cooling systems. Having dissimilar metals with water flowing through them can create a type of galvonic corrosion. Universal coolants can be formulated to provide some degree of protection from this process based upon a general "recipe" of what metals and alloys are used in current production vehicles. While this does provide some corrosion protection, it doesn't stop or prevent it as well as a specifically designed coolant. End of rant.

Use whatever you want. My experience tells me the slight additional cost is well worth the protection.


With such obvious neglect by the PO, why do you blame the "green stuff"? Anyone who reads the FAQ on the cooling system can see that the long life coolant has it's problems and shouldn't be used in the 80. The "green stuff" that Andrew & I are referring to is Prestone All Makes and Models, not Long Life. What's important, whether you use green or red, is 1. stick with what your using and don't mix; & 2. Don't neglect your cooling system. Flush & replace at least every other year.

Reference thread: https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/45372-green-coolant-vs-red-coolant.html
 
OK, first off YMMV. Done with the disclaimer.

If you are using some other brand of coolant, rock on. I have seen many vehicles with nasty cooling systems over the years. Do you blame the coolant or the owner? Both? In my case both with this particular 80 and other Toyotas I have owned, I put much of the onus on the coolant. After speaking with a couple of people who have way more experience with metalurgy than I do, I now understand why Toyota has a particular coolant for their vehicles. From what I gather, their coolants are formulated based on the various metals and alloys used in their engines and cooling systems. Having dissimilar metals with water flowing through them can create a type of galvonic corrosion. Universal coolants can be formulated to provide some degree of protection from this process based upon a general "recipe" of what metals and alloys are used in current production vehicles. While this does provide some corrosion protection, it doesn't stop or prevent it as well as a specifically designed coolant. End of rant.

Use whatever you want. My experience tells me the slight additional cost is well worth the protection.


Well sure, but...all car companies use the same metals in car motors and cooling systems. Iron, Aluminum, and brass. That's basically it. It isn't like there are any secrets here. I think it's safe to assume that all coolants can only slow down the basic chemical process that causes cooling system corrosion and malfunction.

The safest advice is to change out coolant every year or two, and swap out radiators every 10 years or so.

Just me personally, but I think if everyone applied this to their 80 series, we would see many fewer head gasket failures.
 
Just me personally, but I think if everyone applied this to their 80 series, we would see many fewer head gasket failures.

Agreed.

-B-
 
This is what I have heard- the move towards universal coolant is becoming the standard.

Dexcool, G12, G-05 etc are all similar. I read that the silicates scale over pitting on the metal water pump caused by cavitation of the impeller at high speed.

I know Toyota is "silicate free" but G05 and Dexcool will work- as it is spec'd for them OEM.

Basically everything is cross-compatible except G11= old Prestone, which may explain problems w/ sludging w/ mixing Toyota red w/ Prestone G11. Mixing G11 w/ anything would cause the same so the problem is not Toyota Red, it's G11.

I think Peak Global Lifetime universal coolant is supposed to be good as well.
 
Well sure, but...all car companies use the same metals in car motors and cooling systems. Iron, Aluminum, and brass. That's basically it. It isn't like there are any secrets here...

Somewhat true, but not all iron, aluminum, and brass are the same. All have other "ingedients" which give them their metallurgical properties. Metals used in modern cars are very much of the boutique variety. Aluminum heads from Nissan, Toyota, Ford, etc... will all have different properties. It is the alloy's composition or elements mixed in that give it certain properties (usually strength, heat resistance, hardness, abraision resistance, etc...)So even steel parts within an engine can have very different metallurgical properties (think of the different needs between intake and exhaust valves and their seats) Brass, which is an alloy of copper and zinc, can be made with varying ratios of copper and zinc, so it too will have different galvonic reactance.

Changing coolant frequently is never a bad idea. But it is quite likely, that you would get the highest longevitiy in a Toyota engine from using a coolant designed for it. $.02
 
But it is quite likely, that you would get the highest longevitiy in a Toyota engine from using a coolant designed for it. $.02

"....I will not use toyota red in my 80 series or older toyota vechicles I own period. I have seen too much. i will use green and flush it once a year. I do beileve that if you have a newer cruiser or newer truck with the MLS head gaskets, the red is great...."

".....I have stated my preference and my reccommendations. One quick thought is that alot of toyota's other engines have gone to MLS about the time that the red coolant came out. I have serviced a few of these and have not seen the type of green/grey mixture in the overflow tank. Where the 1fz has a habit of leaving deposits in the overflow tank(and the radiator), expecially with older fluid. I believe that the red coolant was really designed for the MLS gaskets. Toyota want to stream line products, to match the market. The 1fz does not have that. I see a bunch of coolant creep with the 1fz gaskets, I bet I could point out some on just about every 1fz engine. I really do not think the coolant is the best for the materials of the 1fz engine's HG...."

Both quotes from Robbie or Powderpig, respected Toyota and especially 80 series mechanic, from this thread:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-te...d-coolant.html

I would suggest reading it.

One last quote from same person, same thread:

Yes there is a wealth of information, but it really comes down to use what you want, do not mix coolants, flush/fill at least every other year if not every year. That really can not be that mind numbin. You jsut have to remember there is more than one way to skin a cat. later robbie
 
I have and do use the green also. Couldn't find regular green in Prestone last time around, so I used Peak's green which is an etlylene-glycol coolant and doesn't contain the bad chemical (IIRC dyhexa-something).

It's been a while since I dug into this issue, but one of the main points I came across, talked about the different types or radiator materials and particularly the solders used in vehicles of our make and ventage. IIRC, the premium coolants (green and red) have an admixture that prevents/inhibits the corrosion of the solder material, but the admixture degrades over time (hence the need to flush them every 18 to 24 months). With Robbie's concern about Toyota Red and it's potential unsuitability with the HG's on these rigs, I eliminated Red from contention.
 
robbie uses green and that is enough for me.

I will not mix the two. But one advantage to using green is if you ever have a blow-out, green antifreeze is very easy to get anywhere. Not so with toyota Red. I get tired of taking antifreeze with me on wheeling trips just for that reason.
 

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