PlotPoint

Is it safe to pour the concentrated coolant in and THEN follow that up with equal amount of distilled water (and let the system do the 'mixing')? I was told it's safe/fine to do this. Is correct? Or is it necessary to mix the coolant with the distilled water first to get the 50/50 solution and then pour it in? And no I am not buying the pre-mixed (pink). I am using the red coolant because that is what was originally in the car when new.

LScowboyLS

you can do it either way - but mixing it first is safer because sometimes you can incorrectly estimate how much you will eventually be adding before you get all the air out - or at least get a gallon of each and kind of alternate back & forth.

where I have screwed up before, is thinking the system was gonna hold a certain number of gallons, and then pouring in the coolant half all at once, or the water half all at once, and then it ends up holding at lot less or a lot more than I thought and now is nowhere near 50/50

PS - make sure you change the $2 o-ring on the drain plug, part number 96711-19007 - otherwise, it ends up leaking and you get to do the whole job over again!

and yes, the red Toyota Long Life coolant is the best, and it's cheaper!!

Shiryo

It's not like it gets drained out in 10 feet... Once you close your petcocks and start pouring in your mix, it's going to mix while the engine is running, the second you pour it in. Coolant travels throughout the engine pretty damned fast.

While I prefer to mix them in individual gallons and then pour in (which is rarely since I buy the pink stuff, I have to do it to my VW since I buy G12++ 100%), you're fine doing it whichever way...

The only issue I can see is that you forget how much coolant you poured in and how much water you poured in. But being off by 10% will never hurt anything... If you live in hotter climates, straight water is even fine... But it's best to keep 50/50.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

either way is fine, unless you live somewhere freezingis going to be a concern you can be a little off with the ratio. make sure you're not trying to dilute the premixed coolant though.

toyota pink and red are interchangeable in this generation vehicle iirc.

LScowboyLS

straight water and you will be replacing water pumps & radiators! - but 40% coolant would be fine in hotter areas, water does have a better thermal coefficient than ethylene glycol - but another problem with straight water is that you could experience boiling in specific engine areas (not referring to boilover)

Toyota designed the entire cooling system for 50/50, best not to stray from that too far

Shiryo

Truth. I should erase that out of there. Just one of those "If you really wanted to, but shouldn't, but it's still plausible" type of things lol.

PlotPoint

Great tip on the o-ring! I have got my OEM parts order in process so I will add that to the tab. I see what you mean about estimating the amount needed if pouring concentrate into the system. Crikey. Ok, will have the mechanic pre=mix the red with the water. At this point I am all about peace of mind! Having lots of different maintenance things done (can't wait!) and am reading up doing my research to try to avoid as many pitfalls as I can.

PlotPoint

One more question...we are flushing (not just draining and filling) the coolant, so its it OK to use tap water to flush (along with the Prestone radiator flush stuff)? My preference is to buy 6 to 8 gallons of DISTILLED water and have that on hand so nothing but distilled water is ever intro'd to the system (plus the 2 gallons red coolant and 2 gallons distilled water that we need -- and we'll premix that).

For procedure, I am going by that lexls.com tutorial which looks pretty thorough. Or is it true that since any tap water used to flush is only going to be in the system for a short period that it's ok to use tap water for the flush? This is not exactly the same topic (but related) so wasn't sure if I should start a new thread. Thanks!

RA40

iTrader: (6)

An easy way to determine the pre-mix is to catch all and measure what came out. In mild climates being off a handful % isn't going to be detrimental. My feeling is it is minimal to completely flush/clear the system if you are regular about the cooling system maintenance. Especially if you are going to use the same type of coolant. This only serves to add about an hour to doing the drill and uses up much more water and any $ for flushing agents.

In past times when going from Prestone green to Dex Cool or like, yes, getting all the previous flushed out was necessary since Dex Cool at the time was not compatible. Even in this day we've heard of shops mixing Prestone green with Toyota red. One of my past cars had Dex Cool and the sticker on the fill cap to states use "Dex Cool only." The tech topped off the system with green. Is the tech blind that they can't see the color in the reservoir or read?

Dutchy

Is the toyota red coolant same as the VAG (volkswagen, audi..) red coolant?

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

In hotter areas you can dilute down to a 70/30min Water/coolant in all cars using the correct fluid and properly distilled AND demineralized water. a bottle of water wetter or similar also helps in hotter climates to minimize cavitation of higher percentage water mixtures.

Also, in colder climates you can bump up the mixture to 40/60 to get a lover freezing point without any ill effects.

50/50 is recommended simply because it is kind of an idiot proof mixing ratio and offers a freezing point conducive to 90% of typical driving situations without any detrimental effects in hoter climates.


FYI, straight water in the system will not cost you a radiator, it can cause water pump seals to leak over time, especially on older pumps. on a new pump, you are not likely to see any issues for years and 10s of thousands of miles. race cars typically run 100% water due to track regulations to prevent another slick substance from potentially contaminating the track. these cars run at 10/10s all the time and without cooling issues as a result.

Shiryo

I wouldn't test it... And VW G12++ Coolant ain't no where cheaper at $30 a premixed gallon and needing about 3 gallons.... Also, G12, G12+ and G12++ are Pink in color, like the latest Toyota Coolant.

Unlike G11 which was used in cars before the late 90s, it is purple. However no one really uses G11 anymore, G12 and it's revisions have been far superior to G11 and no one uses it anymore.

The similiarites between G11 and G12 versus T-Red and T-Pink, is they are cross compatible with each other (G11 can be mixed with G12 safely like T-Red and T-Pink).

the G11/G12 series of coolants were built for mixed metal engines, aluminum head, iron block and the odd seal types. Mix it with green coolant and it literally turns into Jello. They are a must use in VW/Audi cars, you'll destroy a VW throwin in Green Monster coolant within a week, kills all the seals and gunks up.

Just stick to OEM spec fluids.

LScowboyLS

FYI - race cars get a NEW radiator, often before every race (i.e. Nascar, Indy, CART, F1) or every few races (dragsters) - they don't have to worry about electrolysis clogging up the radiator, water pump seals, etc. not to mention the isolated boiling in certain water passages in the engine- if you run straight water in an LS400 for very long, you will have problems you don't want - and you certainly CAN NOT run for "years with no issues and 10s of thousands of miles"

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

FYI, No actually they don't.
Only at the highest levels do teams with unlimited budgets replace things like rads per race. For the VAST MAJORITY of teams racing, they do not replace a part unless there is a reason why that team HAS TO replace the part. Most teams continue to run said part(s) until they reach a budget set replacement interval, service life interval or efficiency maximum, which ever comes first. In fact many teams who maintain their cars well, will run rads for multiple seasons.

Race teams have to worry about isolated boiling in certain water passages just as much as anyone else, if not more so with race cars which run sustained coolant temps, oil temps and more accurately EGT's well above that of what any street car will see.

Running straight water is not without some complications but if you are running straight water, chances are you are doing so knowing that you are dumping the systems as soon as it starts to get cold and replacing it with a proper mix for the colder seasons. Or you are doing yearly or bi yearly anyways. Most people who do so run it with a product like "water wetter" which aids in the neutralization of electrolysis and corrosion while it lubricates seals much like antifreeze does.

Water freezes at 32ºF or 0ºC, so if you are seeing temps that low or lower and you are running straight water, electolysis is the least of your concerns and you're an moron for doing so. Considering the vast majority of the continent see's temps below zero in the winter, you cannot run straight water year round anyways. So you are forced to dump the system anyways...
I didn't suggest that someone run just water in in their LS400, simply pointed out the reality of running straight water. None of what i said is untrue, you just misconstrued/misread/misunderstood it.

I have my race car in my heated garage right now, it's been running straight water with water wetter for 120,000kms(~ with a total of 130k on the clock. It's been raced extensively and sat for long periods of time. I replaced the radiator last year for something bigger due to the fact I have tripled the power of the car and the OEM rad was no longer able to cool the car. I pressure tested it back to back with a stock rad that I was putting in a customer car and the pressure drop across my old rad was identical to the new OEM rad, the customer rad with 150,000km was flowing 1/6th the volume of water due to corrosion and Electrolysis. I have the same water pump, on the car that it came with, with no signs of leaks, bearing wear or seal degradation. There is ZERO corrosion, calcification or any issues of any kind in my motor, the customer's car needed extensive repairs to recover from a marginal maintenance work history. I maintained a host of customer race cars and toys the same way and have had similar results in all makes and models including many Japanese cars. in fact none of them have had any cooling related issues of any kind. In the winter, i added only enough coolant to allow the system not to freeze. Around here, temps rarely drop below freezing and if they do, it is not much more than -5ºC and only for a few days so a mixture 90/10 is more than sufficient year round if need be!

Moral of the story, if you take proper care of it, you can make it work indefinitely. Or more accurately, without issues for years and 10s of thousands of miles!
if you're a moron and neglect maintenance and common sense, then yeah, it can biyte you hard on the ***!

LScowboyLS

if you are running water wetter with your water, then it's not "straight water"

and yes, FYI - teams racing at the top level (i.e. Nascar, Indy, CART, F1) install new radiators for every race (part of a complete engine overhaul after each race, they can't chance a problem or risk any cooling issues or failures)

I have friends and acquaintances in all of the top racing series who confirm this.