Yet another Coolant Question (1 Viewer)

[dbla]

Hey all... I finally got her back up and running. No leaks runs well...(apart from a rattle that wasn't there before)

I had initially left the thermostat and gaskets out, filled her up with water (tap) and ran her a bit. As one would expect she leaked from the thermostat housing like a sieve, but once I had the gaskets and thermostat installed, she's watertight again. I drove her about 10mi with just water in the system, and it seemed to work great. Temp gauge stayed in the middle, no leaks, etc etc...

Here's my question. This morning I went out to drain the water and replace coolant. I pulled the petcock on the radiator and drained it empty. I then ran her to see if the water pump would force anything out, not much. Then I replaced coolant directly into the radiator. I only got about 2.5 gallons in there. What am I missing?

I've heard mixed reports about draining from the engine block, but is that the step I'm missing? Or is this burping issue?

To be honest, this is my first big project under the hood of a car, and I'm a little afraid and intimidated by the amount I don't know. I want to be sure that I am not going to do something that damages a part of this vehicle that I am not able to fix myself.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
-a

 

[Cruzerman]

There is a drain for the block on the left side of the engine. You should definitely download the FSM.

For Sale - 40, 50, 60, and 80 series FSM for a hell of a price.

[new edit] go here instead - Resources - https://forum.ih8mud.com/resources/ It's an end of an era my friends. As of tomorrow I'm being forced by my isp provider to shut this down. I just cannot take the chance on losing my hosting for my e-mail and other things. I'm working on finding a...

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[dbla]

There is a drain for the block on the left side of the engine. You should definitely download the FSM.

For Sale - 40, 50, 60, and 80 series FSM for a hell of a price.

[new edit] go here instead - Resources - https://forum.ih8mud.com/resources/ It's an end of an era my friends. As of tomorrow I'm being forced by my isp provider to shut this down. I just cannot take the chance on losing my hosting for my e-mail and other things. I'm working on finding a...

forum.ih8mud.com

Hey I have that actually. I’ve read on here from several people that they didn’t bother draining from the block.

I guess that’s not the best practice??

 

[4Cruisers]

My son and I just replaced the coolant in my '93 4-Runner following a timing belt/water pump replacement. After getting the engine up to temperature, with both heaters on high, we opened the radiator petcock and let it drain as we refilled the radiator with water. After ten minutes or so (as the now-diluted older coolant was circulated out of the system) we closed the radiator petcock and refilled the radiator with the proper amount of Toyota coolant. The 3VZ-E block drains are pretty much impossible to remove with the engine in the vehicle, so we didn't bother with that. IIRC the directions we followed were actually on the Toyota coolant bottle.

 

[Cruzerman]

I personally don't use the petcock but instead pull the bottom hose. Drains fast and that petcock sometimes breaks or leaks after you mess with it.

 

[OSS]

I pulled the petcock on the radiator and drained it empty. I then ran her to see if the water pump would force anything out, not much

Don't do that again. As you saw, it didn't accomplish anything but let the water pump run dry which is hard on its bearing & shaft seal.
Also running the engine on straight water isn't doing the water pump shaft seal any favors either. Glycol coolant also acts as a lubricant for the shaft seal & bushing.

The problem with flushing the engine cooling system with water is then it's trickier to get the 50/50 coolant to water ratio when adding coolant because the engine now has some leftover fresh water inside it that'll dilute the final mixture. The only sure way to do it is to get a coolant checker, but using one of those is finicky.

In the future to save yourself a lot of unnecessary work, just drain the coolant from the radiator and block and refill with fresh 50/50 coolant. Done. No flushing. It's not necessary. (Toyota doesn't recommend it).

 

[dbla]

Don't do that again. As you saw, it didn't accomplish anything but let the water pump run dry which is hard on its bearing & shaft seal.
Also running the engine on straight water isn't doing the water pump shaft seal any favors either. Glycol coolant also acts as a lubricant for the shaft seal & bushing.

The problem with flushing the engine cooling system with water is then it's trickier to get the 50/50 coolant to water ratio when adding coolant because the engine now has some leftover fresh water inside it that'll dilute the final mixture. The only sure way to do it is to get a coolant checker, but using one of those is finicky.

In the future to save yourself a lot of unnecessary work, just drain the coolant from the radiator and block and refill with fresh 50/50 coolant. Done. No flushing. It's not necessary. (Toyota doesn't recommend it).

This is helpful. I’ll drain the block today and top off with my remaining coolant.