vintagelex

I'm planning to change the coolant before this winter on my 92 ES, and I just had a few quick questions I thought some of you guys might be able to answer from experience.

1. I'm planning on changing the upper and lower hoses, the radiator caps, and the two small coolant hoses going to the intake plenum. The radiator hoses on Rockauto say there is "no spring included and may not be necessary". Did the OEM hoses come with a spring on the inside that I'll have to swap in to the new hoses or is this just a general statement they put on there?

2. How hard is it to replace the coolant hoses to the heater core? Is it even necessary? I was just thinking it wouldn't hurt to do after almost 23 years.

3. Is there a gasket on the drain plug either on the block or on the radiator? If yes then I want to replace that as well. And finally, is there any special procedure to bleed the cooling system on these cars other than the usual "let it run with the radiator cap off and top off coolant" procedure?

Thanks!

Chuckinnj

Get a Lisle SPILL FREE FUNNEL because it works well and no air locks.
The heater core hoses are not hard to change....... Just take your time. I did mine because the cooling system was empty and the original hoses were 17 years old.
No springs on my hoses.... 97 es300.

Gerson

iTrader: (1)

The hoses does not have springs inside and coolant drain plug behind engine block does not have a gasket. Just be careful when you do the heater hoses cause the inlet and outlet heater core pipes can bend easily, use a pick for undoing hoses without damaging it. You can used green coolant if you choose but I strongly recommend using Toyota long life red coolant and dilute it to 50/50 mix. Bleed the cooling system on the water neck side instead of the radiator to bleed out bubbles on the highest point.

vintagelex

Thanks for the replies, I was thinking about getting one of those radiator bleeding funnels, it looks really handy. And I'm glad to hear about the heater hoses being easy to do, it'll be a good feeling to have the cooling system all nice and new, especially since I take the car mainly on long trips so I'll have the peace of mind.

vintagelex

I know this is a little off topic but I was also wondering where most people jack the car up when they put it on jack stands. I'm assuming jack stands go at the 4 jacking points, but where do you actually jack the car up (with a hydraulic floor jack)? In the back I assume you use the rear crossmember but what about the front? I just don't want to damage anything, that's all.

Oro

I don't know if the '92 ES uses the same heater valve on the firewall as the GS - I bet it does - so check it.

We had a '94 GS and about a year ago the heater valve just disintegrated. They were (very bad design) made of a fibrous material that degrades over time from heat. This is common on the GS I know. Poke it and make sure it's solid and not softening. If so, get a newer replacement aftermarket piece (believe I paid something like $70 on ebay or such).

If it collapses on the road you will loose your coolant and end up stranded.

RockAuto usually has the necessary hoses very cheaply, among other things you might need. A good go-to place for parts IMO.

I don't have a '92 ES, but it should be the same: look under it and you will see long rectangular "boxes" running the length of each side from the rear of the body pan to the front. These are like old frame rails; they are stamped into the pan to add rigidity and lift points during assembly and maintenance. Jack up near the end, then place your stand under that where it is even and gives good contact.

The jack points are usually just small stamped recesses closer to the doors and for emergency use, not as stable as the pan rails.

BTW if you do not have a jack and are going to buy one, Costco has very high quality Arcan 2.5 tons jacks for $99. My dad bought one this summer and it's a breeze to use compared to the flimsy stamped steel 2-ton units most of us use. Obviously a bit more expensive but for what it is, worth every penny. Similar jacks are often twice as much or even more.

vintagelex

Thanks for the info, yeah I plan on getting the hoses at rockauto, I looked and they're pretty cheap. And the heater valve is only like $30 as well so even if it somehow did break it wouldn't be the end of the world. But hopefully it'll still be good.

vintagelex

So I was looking at the coolant hoses today and I found this. This is the heater valve, right? It looks like it's leaking near one of the hoses (I've had a very slow coolant leak for a long time, worse in winter so this would make sense). From the way it looks I'm just gonna buy a replacement and do it along with the hoses, because it looks like it would fall apart the minute I touch it. Rock auto has this one, does it look like the right one?
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...522&cc=1387010

Oro

oh man, Illinois. The chicago salt cancer. Egads. My sympathies. I am familiar; my brother and his wife are in Crystal Lake now. They have their house on the market and are evacuating the area as rapidly as possible in favor of a free state with constitutional liberties (WA).

Yes, your pic is the heater valve. It looks just like the one I had to replace on the GS300 last December. If it is leaking, do not trust it to last much longer. They will -literally - disintegrate and dump your coolant system down your firewall.

No, that is not the right valve. That is a generic one and it would work but you would end up having to a) fabricate a mount for it, b) re-jig and re-mount the actuator lever that comes through the firewall (that is the cable with the spade end attached to it in your pic) from the control unit in the center console. Way too much PITA.

I shopped hard and I found the right unit on ebay but it costs like $80. best price I could find when I looked (last December). While it is an annoying amount of money to pay, and I sympathize with that, I suggest you do it to avoid hassle in the near future.

PS - per Gerson's comment - while I am manic about using Toyota LLC ($29/gallon at CarQuest) in our 2002 ES, I think a 92 can run ok on cheaper green coolant. Most japanese makers did not start switching their internal components to alloys needing "red" until mid 90s. There is a website somewhere that details this, let me see if I can find it again:

Ok, didn't find the one I referenced in the past but found this, which is very clear. Actually you want HOAT fluid, zerex or prestone sells a version of that "G" or "G5" it is called. "Hybrid Organic Acid T-something" (I forget). Look at this:

http://www.mustangevolution.com/foru...lant_chart.jpg

As you can see in the histogram, all US and Europe except GM have gone to G5 coolant in the last 10 years, so it is quite common now. Only Japan (red) and GM do their own thing. And the chemistry is different and critical so do not f-with it.

So for a '92, don't waste money on the Red coolant; it is pricier and does nothing for you given the designed alloys and compounds in your radiator/water pump/head gasket, etc. Buy some prestone, zerex, or whatever brand G5/euro coolant.

Get the concentrate. You need to mix it 55/45 or 60/40 because you are in Chicago and it can hit 30 below. 50/50 only protects to 30 below. But 55/45 will go to like 45 or 50 below zero. So get the concentrate and get distilled water at the grocery (like $1/gallon - cheap). Look up the coolant volume of your system (google it, easy). Put in the right 55% of concentrate, then fill with distilled water. 1 qt or more will be "trapped" in the heater core so don't be shocked when the water comes up shorter than you thought.

Also, if you have the wrong coolant in now (very likely) do this:

a) drain radiator (should be simple drain petcock on bottom)
b) drain block ( should be bolts on both sides of block to drain)
c) refill with pure distilled water (dH20).
d) run car a day or so this way, just dH20 as coolant. Obviously, only do this in summer, not in winter when less than 32F is possible). Will dilute old fluid in heater, journals, etc.
e) repeat a to d again.
f) now refill with proper G5 coolant 55% of capacity and dH20 to top off.
g) when filling, do so if possible with car slightly up hill; it will help bleed air out.
h) re-check coolant capacity/fill again twice over two weeks as trapped air bleeds out. Refill with only dH20 as you already have proper amount of coolant in it.

I should get paid for this. (joke - I am glad to help)
I have received/gleaned so much valuable advice from internet forums over the years that I am always happy to stop when I have time and help someone else, repay the favors.

LeX2K

Using Toyota RED is about the best thing you can do for the 3VZ-FE engine, head gasket failures are common putting in cheap coolant will eat away at the gasket material. We are talking a $10-15 premium over the cheap stuff, about the best possible value.

vintagelex

I checked and the heater valve is $69 from the dealer for an original OEM one so I might just get that, even though to me the rockauto one seems like it would fit, it would just need to get screwed onto the original bracket and have the servo arm taken off the old one and put on the new one. (I was gonna go to the junkyard to get non-rusty parts for that). I really don't have much extra money right now, and I doubt the OEM one will come with new mounting hardware either.

As for the coolant, this is an original owner car (dad bought it new) and as back as I can remember, for like the past 15 years at least, there has always been green coolant in it. Always changed every two years, and always green. The FSM only says to use "a good brand of ethylene glycol coolant", so I'll just stick with something like prestone since it's been ok for so long.

vintagelex

Here's also one that I found that looks exactly like the one that's on there, and it's on sale for $14.99. I think it's a no-brainer, I'll buy this one, see if it fits, and in the worse case I'm only down $15 bucks.
http://www.partsgeek.com/gbproducts/...FcZDMgodyC4A6g

Oro

That makes sense and is very true for post-96 cars. This ain't that.

But that vintage was not designed to work with red. It was designed for use with yellow HOAT/G-05 coolant. It was built with alloys, compounds in gaskets, etc. designed to be compatible with HOAT, and not the pricier p-HOAT that Red is. Yellow/G-05 is the correct factory specification for an early '90s Lexus/Toyota, and will maximize hose, gasket, radiator, etc. life.

This is not my personal opinion, this is what Toyota says. Red (p-HOAT) would be vastly preferable to green (IAT, inorganic acid), in this application. But it would get you nothing over the more common and less expensive yellow HOAT/G-05.

Zerex (Valvoline) makes an inexpensive G-05 coolant that comes in a gold jug. Either premixed 50/50 or concentrate. That would be the most effective choice here.

http://www.valvoline.com/products/br.../antifreeze/42

15 years of being wrong doesn't mean it's a great idea to keep being wrong. Green will work fine for years - right up until your heater valve disintegrates, radiator clogs, or head gasket blows. The car is built for G-05 and it costs nothing extra to use the right coolant. Newer red coolant (post-96) is more expensive. But you don't need that. Just get that yellow/G-05 coolant and switch back to it. Before doing so, it will cost $2 to run 8 quarts of distilled water through the system to flush out the green. It is too simple and cheap to not just do the right thing as the manufacturer says.

LeX2K

The 1992 is the same except for the engine, everything else is essentially the same. I've personally opened up several 3VZ engines that ran the cheap green coolant and they all had the same HG failure, the coolant broke down and caused contaminants to seep into the gasket causing it to rot out and fail.

Running Toyota RED will keep the cooling system pristine, no deposits or corrosion or anything. I run it in all my cars including my 1990 Camry which according to you should not be running the red stuff, car has the original radiator and I plan to keep it that way.

vintagelex

Thanks for the tips on coolant, I think I will call the dealer and ask them what was type of coolant was originally in these cars just so I'm 100% certain. Cost of coolant is absolutely not the issue here, I wouldn't mind paying $20 extra to have the right stuff in there. The car is in great shape and I plan on keeping it pretty much indefinitely so spending a little more on preventative maintenance is okay.

I went to the junkyard and got a completely rust free mounting bracket and servo arm and all screws and clamps for the heater valve, all for $5. I'll order all the parts tomorrow and I'll keep this post updated.