dafidav

Does anyone know or have a guide with pictures?

cheers

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

I think in the manual, the coolant system does not need to ever be changed.

However, many will disagree with Lexus' recommendation...

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

It gives me the impression that our cars are "disposable": You just throw your car away when you reached XXX,XXX miles. Just buy a new one and you will be fine?

josephdoc

There are flashers for engine oil, coolant, power steering fluid, transmission oil, A/C, brake lines....

Basically these machines force out exiting fluids throughout all lines in the system while the engine is running, and then fill the system with new fluid after that.

Of course you can DIY at home but the outcome is minimum. For coolant, find the drain valve of vehicle's radiator, and follow the instruction on your flash kit. I think it is around $10 in parts store. You will need to drain and refill a few times and turn on engine to circulate and heat-up its flow...

I don't think DIY flushing works well, unless you flush it offten. For coolant flashing with live-feed machine, I see my local area charing around $120 to $200, and not many stores have those machines.

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

The coolant is good for at least 5 years. I don't think anyone uses the Type I coolant anymore (1 year).

taminatorv

In case you didn't know, use only distilled water when flushing and when mixing with coolant. You don't want mineral buildup in your cooling system.

gsrthomas

iTrader: (1)

I flushed the coolant on my moms Toyota Highlander. The dealer has two different coolants. One is a oem concentrated coolant that you have to mix yourself. The other one is already a pre-mix oem coolant that is already mixed so you dont have to do any mixing. I picked up the pre-mix.

Does Lexus use the red coolant like Toyota does??

I will be changing my coolant when my car is 5 years old.

Technique

To the OP: Why do you want to flush?

Dj_AmtraX

iTrader: (2)

Toyota uses a red color coolant, which I beleive it is a long life product. Our car is no more than 2yrs old. Why would there be a need to change it?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Toyota has two coolants. One is the old red stuff. It's a deep red color, almost like cranberry juice. The other is pink. They call it SLLC (Super Long Life Coolant) and it is intended to last 120k miles or 200,000 km. This is clearly called out in the scheduled maintenance plan.

There is no flush procedure called out in the FSM. They say simply drain and refill with SLLC. The factory fill goes 120k miles, and the recommend changing every 60k miles after the initial change.

Why would you want to flush this early in the car's life?

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

Lobux,

Do you see any reason why a 20% SLLC / 80% water mixture with Redline Water Wetter would cause problems with the IS? I used it with great results in my S2000 for years with a high pressure rad cap and low temp thermostat (which I can't find for the IS).

dafidav

theres no reason i want to flush it, not even wanting to drain it, just curious thats all

wow it lasts for 5 years?? i didnt know that

i guess ill leave it for 5 years then

hahahhaha

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

SLLC is sold prediluted. So you'd need to change the ratio a bit. I think 60/40 distilled to SLLC would net you the 80/20 you are looking for. I run 80/20 with Water Wetter in my Supra. That's what got me back to my original gas mileage when California went from 93 to 92 octane. Now that they've gone to 91, I have no choice but to add race gas to get back to 93.

Toyota thermostats (at least the ones I've seen so far) have an adjustment screw in them that is crimped to hold it at the set temperature. It is possible to adjust the screw to get the t-stat to open sooner. It costs you nothing but time to do it. TRD sells low temp thermostats (160F) at an alarming price. I would never buy one from them. I'd just adjust mine until I am happy.

There is a negative to adjusting the t-stat cooler - you will take longer to get into closed loop, and more than likely, you'll lose some thermal efficiency so gas mileage will drop a bit. One of the Scion tC owners who commutes in his car 90 miles a day was looking for a bit more gas mileage, so he found a 210F thermostat and installed it. He picked up about 10% on his gas mileage. You can expect something similar (6% - 8%) should you choose a colder temperature, but in the other direction.

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

That's good to know about the adjustable T-stat. I would probably buy another stat, then set it with a pot of hot water before swapping it out with the stock one.

The Type II coolant in my S2000 was also prediluted by 50%, so I took that into account.

I didn't ever notice a reduction in the fuel economy on my S2000. I don't do much highway mileage, and I was getting great mileage with my 4.77 gears after reducing my coolant temps by about 20 degrees. The power benefit was significant, and my ignition timing was significantly advanced over my buddy's stock S2000 (same MY monitored via OBDII).

Gtidan

Under the hood there is a label near the front. It says: Coolent is good for 100,000 miles..........end of story...