Brcobrem

HI RX - First Generation forum Members,

3/18/2017 Important Update: There are two versions of red/pink antifreeze available. The exact type for your Lexus/Toyota depends on whether it is 2004 or older, or 2005 and newer. Please see the posts latest posts by sktn77a and myself that begin on 3/17/2017). Now back to the April 2012 original post. End 3/18/2017 Update.

The local Lexus dealer had changed the antifreeze a couple months ago with "Toyota Genuine Parts 00272-SLLC2 Long Life Coolant". In another post I made that had a picture, one person replied that the coolant reservoir looked too low and I should add "Toyoto red" up to the proper level for hot or cold appropriately.

I see a one US gallon of 00272-SLLC2 on Amazon for $26.67US (free shipping). It's 50/50 premixed. I started looking for equivalent products and came up with two:

"Zerex® Asian Vehicle Antifreeze / Coolant" is $21.40 on Amazon (and free shipping if you can combine with something else to get above $25). That's also a 50/50 pre-mix). Here's the Zerex link:
http://www.valvoline.com/products/brands/zerex/antifreeze/105
So I looked on Zerex's "Retail Location" page and called the local sources. Unfortunately no one carried it locally.

One company (Bennett Auto Supply) said they didn't carry that, but did carry "Pentofrost A1, Antifreeze specially formulated for Asian Vehicles". Here's a link for that:
http://pentosin.net/f_antifreeze.asp
There is says it's for Toyota (1985-2004), Lexus (1990-2004), and Scion (2004).
(Side Note: There's also a link for their full catalog there that lists products by vehicle).
The full spec sheet is at:
http://pentosin.net/pressreleases/CRP-116_Pentofrost_A1_3.pdf
The Pentofrost A1 is a full concentrate, not a 50/50 pre-mix.

(Side Note: I saw another source on the web where they mention, "Do not mix Pentofrost A1 with other coolants (especially silicated coolants), as this may cause gel formation and clog your radiator." I've seen this warning before about these special "Asian" coolants, but just wanted to mention it again for the benefit of other Lexus newbie's like myself. Here's that link:
http://www.*************.com/Parts_List/coolant-fs-antifreeze/toyota/4runner/ )

The official Pentofrost A1 page says it's for Toyota, and a Reference Number of 00272-1LLAC (not the 00272-SLLC2 that I'm used to seeing). However, it says all the right things about the coolant, as follows:
"Pentofrost A1 is a phosphated organic acid technology (phosphated OAT); which is categorized as HOAT (hybrid organic acid technology) in the US market. Pentofrost A1 is suitable for all Asian vehicles using “red” Antifreeze/Coolant. Pentofrost A1 does not contain any silicate, borate, nitrite or amine containing additives since these may harm your Asian vehicle. Do not mix with other coolants (especially silicated coolants), as this may cause gel formation and clog your radiator. Pentofrost A1 is an antifreeze concentrate for Asian vehicle applications in water-cooled engines. It contains phosphates and organic salts to protect all materials used in cooling systems for Asian vehicles. Pentofrost A1 is mixable with all phosphated OAT’s. Meets ASTM D-3306."

Next I called Pentofrost (ie. via pentosin.net) and asked about the 00272-SLLC2 vs 00272-1LLAC numbers. The tech put me on hold for a couple minutes to check further, and then returned and told me the 00272-1LLAC is ok for my 2000 RX300. Btw, you can search for 00272-1LLAC and will see that is also a Toyoto OEM branded coolant.

Anyone have any experience or comments on the Pentofrost A1 product? I'll take concentrate (and add distilled water) over pre-mix any day for the obvious reason.

Regards,
Brcobrem

code58

My question would be.... Why would anyone take a chance with an unknown (my experience is even if you call the manufacturer you will ALWAYS get a "sure, it'll work fine wherever you want to use it, want to water your plants with it, no problem. They want to sell THEIR product) when the finest ever made (Toyota long life) is available for just a few dollars more. No uncertainty in that product. The red long life in my DIL'S RX looked absolutely brand new when I changed it at 97K mi. and 8 years!!!

salimshah

If you had service done by Lexus, please go back and ask them fill the reservoir. It is ok for the level to drop in first few days as some trapped air is purged.

I would not buy the coolant as it is expensive and you will not need all of it. Why would you keep potentially poisonous chemical at home.

The 50-50 mix is not a hard rule, so you can always add distilled water (to proportions of 30-70 in the overflow reservoir.). In the engine block 40-60 will work too. For frigid areas you may like to check the bottle.

Salim

carguy07

I'm with code58 100% on this one. Toyota red is the best stuff I have ever seen in my life. Just have the dealer top it off or grab a gallon. I think it was less than $20 the last time I bought some. I like to have some around because these cars seem to magically consume a little splash of antifreeze from time to time.

code58

That's true and I've never figured out exacxtly why. We bought my wife's '02 Camry new and it always consumed (I use that loosely because I have no reason to believe there was any leak internally or externally) and her '11 Camry does the same thing. It is a very slow process but continual. My DIL's RX has done the same exact thing for the 10 years they've owned it, also very slow. Must be magical! I have never seen coolant like it though. Worth every penny.

hypervish

Yup, the coolant level in my RX drops very, very slowly. I have to top it off every year or so. It never get's below min on the reservoir though.

I'm not worried about it, though because every RX and ES that I've looked at when shopping to buy one, the coolant has literally always been below the full line, some of the cars that I looked at barely had any coolant left in the reservoir. Same with my uncle's 03' Camry, I have to fill up the coolant for him in the reservoir occasionally. So, I figure it's got something to do with the coolant itself and not the engine.

salimshah

No magic here ... volume changes based on temperature and coolant also evaporates .. specially in the hot engine environment .... the overflow bottle is not sealed (if it was sealed it wont work).

The above assumes that all the air bubbles in the coolant loop have been eliminated (which we know never happens ).

Salim

PaulDaisy

I must be too practical but I just use generic, green antifreeze that is aluminum and cast iron rated and have zero problems. Honda engines are not any less stressed and work fine with it. I ran a Toyota on green antifreeze for 15 years and sold it with coolant lines clean as brand new baby bottles. I know this may offend people who think that a Lexus requires $25/gal antifreeze. You are probably right and in 50 years I will see some ill effects
I will always choose premium in other cases fluids but ethylene glycol is ethylene glycol.
P.S. But to the OP, I would stop by the dealership and have them top off the coolant since you had them service your Lexus. If they are worth coming back to they will gladly top it off for free.

hypervish

That's what I have in my RX, the generic green antifreeze. After switching to that, the coolant level doesn't drop like it did with the Toyota coolant. I've always used generic antifreeze in all of my Toyota's and never had an issue with corrosion or anything.

Brcobrem

Wow! I didn't expect to get this kind of a response from the forum. Thank you all very much

Every couple of weeks when I drive by the dealer's location there's some reason that I don't have time to stop. So yesterday I made an executive decision when I drove by Bennett Auto Supply: I picked up a gallon of the Pentofrost A1 for $26.99US.

This morning I mixed 3oz of antifreeze with 3 oz of distilled water in jar and then funneled it into the reservoir. Did that a couple times until it reached the Full mark (it was at the bottom). So I have the 50/50 mix that is recommend on the label.

Btw, I don't forget posts like this and I'll return here if I have any positive or negative experiences that I think might be related to my product choice.

Regards,
Brcobrem

PaulDaisy

I feel like such a slob now. I simply dump distilled water into a half-emptied $12 one-gallon jug of undiluted Prestone green antifreeze from Wal-mart and pour it in as needed
And perhaps once (or even more!) in my life I even used tap water
At least I label the containers as "diluted"...

code58

This is exactly why I don't buy used cars (or trucks), You never know what people have done to or with the vehicle that you are contemplating buying. I keep my vehicles in pristine condition (mechanically and otherwise) and am not interested in something someone else may have treated as though they knew they'd only have it a couple or three years so didn't care about it as long as it made it that long to trade it in. I guess your vehicle is worth a $12. jug of the bug juice. Mine happens to be worth a few dollars more than that. Never have been able to figure why people would pay $30-$40K for a vehicle and then want to save $10-$20. on something to service it with.

PaulDaisy

No offense taken. To everyone their own. My vehicles are maintained and running flawlessly, and on more than one occasions, this RX300 included, I bought a car I like, brought it up to speed and never had a problem with it again.
But I'm too analytic to not read the labels on product containers and be able to tell their function is identical. There is a huge difference between marketing and value.

carguy07

The problem is many times the marketing effort is put into getting people to buy products that are inferior or don't work at all. Put an aftermarket belt on this car and you quickly find out that the OE equivalent is not quite the same. I think the reason many of us steer toward Toyota parts is they seem to be very well engineered, fit perfect and are priced fairly (if you have a friendly dealer or buy off the net) of course there are exceptions to this, but as a general rule it works. Coolant just happens to be one of those things that it seems like Toyota got right, in fact they made one of the best concoctions ever.

code58

Definitely a strong confirmation on that! I've worked on cars all my life and definitely being the curious type, I can say for a fact, I've never seen higher quality parts on ANY make of car than Toyota/Lexus uses to build their cars. They didn't get to be the worlds most premier (long lasting) car manufacturer by following GM's example, that's for sure! It's no mystery that so many of the world's population choses them above anyone else. Our grandson has been driving my wife's '02 Camry for the last 2 years. We drove it for 8 years without one (60 second) minutes trouble of ANY kind, not one! He has driven it for 2 years with the same results. Across most of this land they still ask 1/2 of what we payed for the car new, and it's 10 years old!!!