Didn't own an 80 series till now. Have a 3rd Gen 4R for 10 years, came here to get info for that.@HopelessDiamond , dude, you've been around for over 6 years and never said a word,...?
That deserves some kind of award.
Like I said,creeping
Uhhhh - Why is my oil RED….!?!?
- Thread starter DIGLERZ
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Like I said,creeping
Not to derail the thread, but ...
Like others have said and I have said used motor oil can change color. I have had my oil turn reddish and also turn black. Changed my daughters 23 Tacoma and the oil went from honey to black where my sons same oil was just a very dark brown. As others have mentioned maybe additives. In this day and age of global supply chains, I bet the oils change from time to time even when you buy the same brand and type. Just change and see what happens
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- #24
I’m gonna re-seal the lower pan, change out the dipstick and oil level sender gaskets and it a shot… Fingers crossed its just a fluke deal.
Agree, I’ve seen various shades of brown/really dark brown oil. This is the first time I’ve seen red, combined with the fact I suddenly had several oil leakage points when I’ve historically had none was what I found concerning (as if ATF related detergents were driving the sudden onset of oil leaks)…
On a side note I am in Hawaii and we have the very fine red dirt clay. Once on my John Deere mower tractor I changed the oil and it was red dirt color. I imagine the air filter could not filter out all the fine dust and some ended up in the oil. I had mowed when extremely dry and was kicking up clouds of red dirt with the mower and getting sucked into the air intake. The tractor has an oil filter but the red dirt is super fine particles probably not filtered out. Been driving in red dirt?
It has been known to happen
on a side note, red wasn't standard till 1999.
How could this happen? Power steering pump is belt driven with no fluid connection to engine. How could power steering fluid enter engine?
on the '93+ trucks the PS pump is gear driven. The front seal on the pump has failed which allows PS fluid to leak out into the crank case. The only indications of this is an overfilled oil pan or a red hue to the engine oil.
As long as ethylene-glycol type coolant, green or Red but each to their own....
Im the 2nd owner of my 93 and it always has Red coolant from day 1 according to maintenance history.
Even I know to avoid "talking" to ChatGPT (Free model), it will tie you in knots, get way off into the weeds, start to make things up, hallucinate, then tell you something 180' different if you close out that discussion and start again with the same question.
COS80
SILVER Star
Why anyone still wastes their time on always-wrong AI is beyond me....
Color of the coolant is mostly insignificant, it's all about the chemistry. Toyota Red was the factory fill in my 94. That coolant was never sold as "long life". As does any manufacturer, Toyota switched over to current technology at some point, still red colored, in time and long life coolant I say is mostly marketing language. It doesn't really change the maintenance schedule.
And to add another wrinkle, as I recall Toyota in the mid to late 90's started selling a 50/50 premix which confused a lot of guys.
Bottom line is to always do a complete flush of the cooling if you don't know exactly what type/brand of coolant was found previously.
And to add another wrinkle, as I recall Toyota in the mid to late 90's started selling a 50/50 premix which confused a lot of guys.
Bottom line is to always do a complete flush of the cooling if you don't know exactly what type/brand of coolant was found previously.
It is a tool like anything else. Use it incorrectly and it is worse than using a steak knife for a screwdriver. For non-tech issues I do like Chat GPT as long as it is not political. For technical items, or non-tinted looks at issues, I find Grok much more accurate. These are tools that can be used to assist you, not make a decision for you (especially on a technical or engineering topic). They can find resources that you would never locate on your own.
I can tell you that over the last 3 months, I have paid for the subscription fee 10 fold using them in actual dollars saved. Time saved, for me, was huge. Do I fully trust them - not on your life! But, they are good tools if you know how to use them.
@DIGLERZ
Was oil brand and viscosity mentioned?
Was oil brand and viscosity mentioned?
Nothing quite like paying for wrong answers. If anyone wants to pay for wrong answers, I'm happy to supply them...
Anyway, I think part of the confusion is that Toyota has had different coolant formulas over the years, but I'm relatively certain that they were running something red starting back in the late 80s. Obviously it's not the same beast as the current red, and they spec'd pink for a period in between. I suspect a lot of our cruisers probably got switched to green coolant at the time of a head gasket replacement. Full disclosure, I'm not charging for that answer, so it might be correct.
Anyway, I think part of the confusion is that Toyota has had different coolant formulas over the years, but I'm relatively certain that they were running something red starting back in the late 80s. Obviously it's not the same beast as the current red, and they spec'd pink for a period in between. I suspect a lot of our cruisers probably got switched to green coolant at the time of a head gasket replacement. Full disclosure, I'm not charging for that answer, so it might be correct.