micell2

ive been using regular radiator fluid, am i soppused to use sometihing special for my 94 es300. because the car is constantly over heating and i dont know why.

lexusk8

I would use whatever is the stock coolant fluid for your ES (not sure of the name for the fluid). You can refer to the owner's manual if you have it for more info. It sounds to me that the overheating is due to possible clogging in the radiator lines, and your coolant system may need to be flushed.

micell2

i flushed it like a 3 weeks ago, maybe the guy did it wrong. should i go and re do it or is there some way of checking whats going on with it first.

Tammy

Sorry to say, the damage may already be done. "Generally" overheating is due to partial blockage of the radiator core. A good radiator shop can measure the flow thru the core and make the determination. The stock Long Life Coolant (LLC) is red and mixed with distilled water. The new toyota coolant, refered to as Super Long Life Coolant (SLLC) is pink in color and is used straight from the bottle with no water added. These are the only two types recommended. Additionally, insure the obvious, the fans turn on as the engine gets hot.

micell2

what damage could possibly be done so far??

mburnickas

I would check the thermostat first. Also per Lexus for those past years, you do NOT have to use these(Toyota) fluids. They are recommend but no necessary. I contacted Lexus on this topic and you can use any, repeat ANY EG coolant for those years. Now the newer cars about 2000 are/might be different.

Colors means zero so I would toss that out the door. I do not use Toyota coolant and works fine.

Lexusfreak

Agreed!

PERRYinLA

micell2 - A car can overheat due to many reasons, not just the thermostat or radiator. But to answer your original question, a car in good shape could keep its cool on plain water, so your choice of coolant is not the current issue. To help you out, we're gonna need more details.

Search the ES and maintenance forums for "overheating" and if nothing obvious catches your attention, let us know some details on your car's overheating.

got_trd

I use toyota coolant in my car

saber

If the temperature gauge ever got in the red zone or if the car was ever driven for along
time with the temperature gauge up near the red zone then the cylinder heads could be permanently heat warped. Heat warping is turn can compromise the integrity of the cylinder head gaskets causing engine coolant to mix with the engine oil and eventual engine destruction.

If aftermarket coolant has been used for along time then the aluminum alloy cylinder heads could also be corroded which can also lead to head gasket leaks or coolant leaks in the metal itself. Aftermarket coolant also reduces the life of the water pump. The most serious problem with aftermarket coolant is that it can cause mineral buildups inside the radiator which makes
the car more prone to overheating.

There are tens of thousands of 10-20 year old Toyota / Lexus's littering the nations junkyards because their owners refused to maintain the cooling system
using the factory original coolant mixture (50% distilled water + 50% Toyota Long Life Red Coolant), failed to use a Toyota thermostat, etc.

You can see this phenomenon right on this forum - all kinds of 16-30 year old owners wtth a "I am qualitified to improve upon the work of the Toyota engineers attitude."

What to do? Install a new radiator (or have your old one recored), Toyota thermostat and Toyota radiator cap and fill the system with 50% distilled water + 50% Toyota Long Life Red Coolant.

mburnickas

all the stuff you talked about is good but aftermarket coolant have progressed. There are a lot of coolants that protect the same as the OEM coolant.

Ps, the people that make the car, LEXUS, even state you do not need to use or is required to use their coolant in my model year. Again, I have posted on this topic before. Do a search. Going on 60K miles and the coolant PH is perfect and the rad looks mint inside.

Also if you did some research on distilled water. Distilled water has a very low Ph, 6.0, do not know how it was processed, and it is has high in TDS 90% of the time. Having TDS will alter PH. TDS are minerals (ex: calcium, silicates, Phosphates, etc. ), salts or metals which are in most distilled waters.

Example: Minerals will also deposit in your cooling system. More deposits the less thermal transfer & less flow etc.

So I only make/us Ro/DI water which has a higher ph, easier to puffer, more stable and zero TDS.

saber

The chemistry of Toyota Long Life Coolant is totally different than any auto parts store antifreeze
http://www.saber.net/~monarch/titan.jpg. Toyota came out with this special antifreeze and used it as the factory fill way back in 1987 because Toyota has HIGHER AUTOMOTIVE RELIABILITY AND DURABILITY STANDARDS - standards which no American auto parts stores antifreeze can match.

Exceptional reliability and durability has never been a goal of American car makers and auto parts stores carry only American car quality brands of antifreeze, brake fluid, filters,
etc. So an effective way to degrade the reliability and durability of a Japanese car is to sabotage it by using auto parts store brands of antifreeze, brake fluid, filters, etc.

mburnickas

Totally different??? I do not buy " American auto parts stores antifreeze". I only buy fluids etc from manfactures that have been around for years.

The diesel coolants conforming to the proper spec of GM 6038M, ASTM D-4985, ASTM D-6210 and TMC RP 329 Type A requirements are very very close. We have be through this before and again boring. Do a search to find the post. So far all the coolants the conform to this are all the same except for on small thing. Again boring topic saber. Also I like the little test you posted. Joke. You can't even read it and there are more the 4 different coolants out there. Prestone yellow coolant sucks but they havea heavy duty on (black bottle) that will be just as good. They are many more fluids that will work just fine.

I am not even going to comment on the flat of lie on the stores ot carrying the items you stated. You need to start learning some info since you the comment you made, "So an effective way to degrade the reliability and durability of a Japanese car is to sabotage it by using auto parts store brands of antifreeze, brake fluid, filters, etc." You crack me up....... My Kubota tactor is made in Japan and the fluids are and some parts are not made in Japan and just as good. Even Kubota dealers buy the non-japan parts since Kubota does not supply the same part out of the factory.

Unreal please post some added benefit info. Since so far you push toyota parts more then dealerships and Lexus corp....

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Check that you are also getiing proper air flow through the radiator. Between the AC/condensor and radiator sometimes gunk builds up like leaves and such between them restricting air flow.

Lexusfreak

Well put mburn!