Which coolant to use? (1 Viewer)

[stithis]

Reservoir is on the L side, which coolant can I use? Asian vehicle Red/Pink or the european Pink? thanks.

 

[hankinid]

Toyota Super Long Life coolant..SLLC. It comes pre-mixed.

 

[Karbon]

Another option is the Valvoline Asian RED if you're in a pinch and looking for something off the shelf. Can be found at Walmart. I recently did a water pump and radiator replacement and I swapped to that to see if there's any noticeable difference versus the other LC that's using SLLC.

 

[stithis]

i would love to get the Toyota stuff but unfortunately the service department JUST CLOSED! and yes im in a pinch looking for something to top off before i head out my road trip camping trip tomorrow in the AM. i think i'll be leaning towards the PEAK OE red/pink for asian cars.

 

[CharlieS]

Add distilled water.

 

[CoolPrius]

Hey guys,

Does your coolant level fluctuate and sometimes end up above the "F" level...by about an inch? I'm wondering if I'm sleep walking and adding coolant in the middle of the night...

Last time I refilled it, I did it first thing in the morning when the vehicle had been sitting for awhile, and filled to the "F" line.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Hey guys,

Does your coolant level fluctuate and sometimes end up above the "F" level...by about an inch? I'm wondering if I'm sleep walking and adding coolant in the middle of the night...

Last time I refilled it, I did it first thing in the morning when the vehicle had been sitting for awhile, and filled to the "F" line.

Yes, perfectly normal.

The tank off to the side is an expansion tank, not a reserve tank design where pressure is a factor (like on some Fords or German cars). As the coolant in the radiator (which is under pressure) expands due to heat, it expands or overflows into the expansion tank. When the coolant in the radiator cools, and contracts, it sucks coolant from the expansion tank back into the radiator. Most car companies don't label the E and F of their expansion tanks as a low or full on when the same temperature. Most companies say that when hot, coolant should be at the F and when cold, fluid should not be below the E. Toyota on the other hand, doesn't give that much detail, and to be honest, it doesn't matter when it comes to the F level. Because if you have too much coolant in your expansion tank (like filling it to the F when it's 50ºF out side) then you tow 8,000 lbs up mountains and it's now 100ºF outside, if the coolant will simply come out another tube and drop onto the radiator shroud, go down the side of it, and fall on your front skid plate.

So it's impossible to overfill, and hurt anything in a 200. And conversely, if the expansion tank looks really empty, but no matter how cold it gets outside, and how long the motor sits cold, as long as there is a little bit of coolant at the bottom of the expansion tank that touches the hose, they you are safe (I would still top it off, but know that no damage could of been done)

 

[CoolPrius]

Yes, perfectly normal.

The tank off to the side is an expansion tank, not a reserve tank design where pressure is a factor (like on some Fords or German cars). As the coolant in the radiator (which is under pressure) expands due to heat, it expands or overflows into the expansion tank. When the coolant in the radiator cools, and contracts, it sucks coolant from the expansion tank back into the radiator. Most car companies don't label the E and F of their expansion tanks as a low or full on when the same temperature. Most companies say that when hot, coolant should be at the F and when cold, fluid should not be below the E. Toyota on the other hand, doesn't give that much detail, and to be honest, it doesn't matter when it comes to the F level. Because if you have too much coolant in your expansion tank (like filling it to the F when it's 50ºF out side) then you tow 8,000 lbs up mountains and it's now 100ºF outside, if the coolant will simply come out another tube and drop onto the radiator shroud, go down the side of it, and fall on your front skid plate.

So it's impossible to overfill, and hurt anything in a 200. And conversely, if the expansion tank looks really empty, but no matter how cold it gets outside, and how long the motor sits cold, as long as there is a little bit of coolant at the bottom of the expansion tank that touches the hose, they you are safe (I would still top it off, but know that no damage could of been done)

Thank you for this explanation! Going to take this fathers day to pass the info on to my kids...clearly my dad missed the coolant memo lol

 

[gaijin]

Toyota on the other hand, doesn't give that much detail, and to be honest, it doesn't matter when it comes to the F level.

Actually, Toyota goes into a great deal of detail to explain that the overflow reservoir should be at "F" when the engine is cold:

HTH

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Actually, Toyota goes into a great deal of detail to explain that the overflow reservoir should be at "F" when the engine is cold:

View attachment 2346671

HTH

Not really @gaijin they don't. They used to, but they changed it to what you just posted.

Read how they tell you to check. "The coolant is satisfactory if between the L and F when cold." Meaning, that if you are in the middle, don't top it up to F.

Then if you are at or below the L, top off to the F.

That goes right back to what I said earlier, Toyota used to be much more specific, but it was too hard for most owners. So when you top off to F, and it the coolant gets too hot and overflows out of the expansion tank onto the fan shroud, and you notice it when the motor cools again, but now the expansion tank level is say, an inch below the F line. Well you just leveled out the coolant volume without having to understand the hot/cold/volume relationship.

I remember manuals and expansion tanks that had "F Hot", F "Cold", L "Hot, L "Cold" lines on them. But they got rid of all that and what they have now, is far from "great detail."

It's the same school of though with our trans overfill check tubes. Toyota used to require owners to know temperate in relation to ATF volume levels. Now, you just over fill by up top a half quart, and when the temp is reached, waste it by dumping it in a pan. Same with coolant now. Toyota is like, "just overfill it, and if you dump some because it was too much, eh, it will be fine." (which I like actually)

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Thank you for this explanation! Going to take this fathers day to pass the info on to my kids...clearly my dad missed the coolant memo lol

No worries, so did mine. But becoming an ASE certified master tech (A1-A8) got me there.