yeldogt

Lexus 2000 -- Very interesting TSB. I m going to do some more research next week, I remember another notice saying something different. I have never seen the red premixed -- they use a different technology. The premixed eliminated the problem of some using tap water for the 50/50 mix -- soooo many mechanics use tap water rather then the proper distilled. I am confused why Lexus would still bother to sell the older red?


Schmoozer -- you can get small particles in the bottle -- lots can happen in an older cars life.

What color is the fluid? Maybe its MB fluid in it


Personally -- if it looks like it has the proper Red Lexus fluid in it i would do a regular service on it -- drain out the radiator and refill it with the red fluid at 50/50. I often dump a gallon of distilled water in the overflow tank to clean it all out and also dump some down the radiator if I can -- just to wash anything out and give a look. With the drain open obviously.

Keep it simple !

schmoozer

I assume the owners manual has the correct type of Coolant for the car or are you guys recommending something different?

And this may be a dumb question, but are the only two drain plugs for the coolant on the engine block, isn't there supposed to be one on the radiator??

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

At the bottom on the radiator, there is a plastic plug that you can unscrew.

schmoozer

Gotcha, I looked under there earlier but couldn't see anything obvious (dark out). I assume its on the right side facing the car?

And the color of the fluid is reddish, but I can't decipher it from pink or red.

LeX2K

I found it all very confusing because my Lexus leader swore up and down and sideways that the Pink coolant was "the stuff I want" for my car. But after reading up on the coolant itself and the formulation, it became apparent that it is not suitable for systems that are not all aluminum. Now I could not determined if my Lexus has an all aluminum system or not (I don't think it does) so rather than take a chance, I flushed the system and put in Red. The last thing I need is corrosion to set in, I plan on keeping the car indefinitely.
Here they only sold the Pink (or at least told me that's all they have), I got the Red from a Toyota dealer.
I see this on my '93 Camry, when I bought the car it had the green crap in it. I got most of the particles out but not all, I still see a few particles in the overflow bottle.

@schmoozer, Pink really does look pink, quite apparent when looking at it in the overflow bottle.

PFB

I just looked at the container and its says Toyota Pink. I think the confusion is that the Red and the Pink are identical coolants, except that in its concentrated form its Red, and in its premixed form (because its diluted with water) its Pink.

The Pink (premixed) matches exactly the color of my OEM factory Coolant in my Lexus, and thats what the Lexus parts department said I need it.

So Red if its not mixed, or Pink if its premixed.

Phil

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Read the TSB that you just copied and paste. Pink supersede red because it satisfies all the car that needs red, and more. Right there it says:

"The new pink coolant is 100% compatible with the current red coolant"

meaning you can use pink in your car if it originally came with red. I'm not talking about mixing, I'm talking about a full flush. I can tell you it has nothing to do with being all-aluminum because most, if not all, new Toyota/Lexus have copper core radiators.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Red and Pink coolant have slightly different formulation. It's not a simple case of red + water = pink because my red coolant mixed with water (50/50) is still red, just not as dark. It's nowhere near pink though.


Your dealer is right. You can run pink if you wish to with no harmful effect because it was formulated to be backward compatible with older systems that calls for red. I personally wouldn't run pink if you can find red because pink is quite more expensive if you have to buy two bottles. Has your car (more specifically the cooling system) ever been serviced by the dealer If so, they may have swapped out to the pink coolant.

schmoozer

I'm gonna say "no" on being serviced by a dealer, but I need to dig through the paperwork and see if I can find anything.

I'm a little confused with the red vs pink posts above, but it sounds like I'll be good with either of them. Looks like red is the preferred choice (50/50 mix), but pink will suffice.

Also if a mechanics shop were to charge $100 for the flush service it doesn't sound like much is saved by doing it myself if I need two bottles of $33 fluid and a couple jugs of water. Perhaps the mechanics only use the off the shelf brands though?

LeX2K

I have never seen this stated by Toyota anywhere, only that the fluids themselves are compatible, and that you can use red in a system that came with pink. No where do they state that you can use pink in a system originally spec'd with red.

For my car, to be safe I just used what it came with.
Most mechanics get angry if you bring them your own parts, and I doubt any mechanic would stock Toyota fluid, unless they are specialty shop.

schmoozer

Well with that said if I drain everything and use the pure distilled water method that you talked about above to flush would it matter since it'll be all fresh?

LeX2K

Just use Red with deionized water, you can get the water from auto parts stores.

schmoozer

With that said are there any official names for "Red" and "Pink" like "DEX 1585" or something, or will they know?

LeX2K

I cannot stress this enough, use only Toyota brand coolant. Not anything compatible. There is much discussion about this, but on systems that use Toyota fluid, the system stays very very clean.

There is no better coolant for your car.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Compatible means just that. You can switch from Red to Pink. You can use red in pink if you want, but you have to treat it as if it was red, meaning you follow the original service interval.

Plus there are few Toyota/Lexus that changed from Red to Pink without any other changes to the car. The SC430 and LS430 are two prime examples. The engine/cooling system of the LS430 from 01-03 is identical to the 04-06 model. 01-03 received red while 04-06 received pink.