gtstcactus

Ok the look of the stuff in my coolant system isn't great. I suspect it's been in there for years, it's yucky, dirty brown... I'm not sure if it's brown because someone has mixed red & green coolant, or if it's rust / corrosion or what. So it needs to go...

I purchased a 4 litre bottle of Toyota red coolant today along with a 4 litre bottle of distilled water.
Is that enough for the refill or do I need to get another litre of each?

As for draining the system... I'm a little unsure of where to do the draining from... Given the state of the liquid in the coolant system I think it's all got to come out, one way or another...

I'll be jacking the car up and putting it on stands while I do some maintenance....

Am I better off doing:
1. Trying to find the plugs on the engine block (or where ever they are), along with one on the radiator I presume, and letting it all drain out... (perhaps someone can give me some simple to follow directions to find the plugs or valves or whatever they are for draining... Pics would be even better!)

or

2. would it be easier to take the radiator cap off, stick a hose in there , remove the top radiator hose, stick the heater on full & turn the hose on to drain it out (I'm assuming top hose is the return to radiator hose)... I suppose this method is going to leave a bit of residual hose water in the system, tho I could get some more distilled water to flush the last of the hose water out if need be.

Are any special tools required?

Also what are peoples thoughts on "preventative maintenance" in regards to putting in those products that supposedly help prevent blowing a head gasket... Scotty Kilmer did a video on Youtube the subject and suggested using one of those products that you stick in with the coolant and leave it there BEFORE you have any sort of problem to prevent it occurring (hence the term preventative maintenance)

LeX2K

The max coolant capacity is 8.5 liters but you'll never get all the old coolant out so one jug plus the distilled water should be enough. The drain plug is on the back of the block and the bottom of the radiator.



You must use one of these when filling with coolant, the 3VZ engine is sensitive to air in the system. When filling put the car on ramps or raise the front of the car if possible. Pour in the coolant slowly and run the engine for 10 seconds a few times until the system won't take any more coolant. Then run the engine for 30 seconds and turn it off. Top off the coolant in your spill free funnel and wait 1-2 minutes.

Then run the engine for 15-20 minutes or more until you don't have any more air escaping. You will always see some bubbles in your funnel when revving the engine due to cavitation. FYI the spill free funnel goes on the inlet on the engine not the radiator. Always keep coolant in the funnel to create a "water space". You will have to rig up the overflow hose so that it goes into the funnel, if you don't coolant will drain into the overflow tank.

Make sure you have a Toyota coolant/rad cap on both the radiator and the water inlet. This is very critical on these engines. I personally would never use any "quick fix" products such as what Scotty Kilmer suggests. I can't stress this enough, use the spill free funnel! The heater control must be set to HIGH, fan off.

gtstcactus

Ok I think I got it pretty much...

I like those spill free funnels, I had been thinking of getting one, I will get one for this...

I'll have to go and have a look under the hood and try and work out where I'm putting the coolant & water in... I had always thought you just filled through the radiator...??? and then top up the coolant overflow tank/reservoir..

Is the inlet on the engine the same thing as the drain plug on the engine?? Or is it that other cap thats like a slightly smaller radiator cap?

Anyone got a photo of the inlet & drain plugs? Does the procedure above empty the heater core? So I turn the temp dial on the a/c / heater to max hot but have no air blowing - heater / a/c completely off? When draining from the engine & radiator drain plugs do I need to connect a tube/pipe/hose to catch the old coolant or will a tub under whichever drain plug be enough?

Any special tools needed?

LeX2K

Put your funnel on the inlet right side of the car. Why the radiators on these cars also have a cap on them is a mystery to me. No special tools required, a catch pan under the engine is fine, the drain plug on the back might have a short tube on it assuming it has not fallen off. The radiator should also have a tube on it, you can remove the splash shields if you want otherwise coolant tends to drain down on them and scatter.

Procedure will not empty the heater core, some will come out but not all. For that you will need to remove the lines and use compressed air to push the fluid out. I don't recommend this because the rubber lines are old and you might end up having to replace them. If you want to get almost all the old coolant out, then fill the system up with only distilled water, run until the air is out and the engine is warm, then drain. You will then have to add just straight coolant until you have the mixture you want, using some basic math you can get the mix you want.

Heater control set to hot, no fan no A/C. Total capacity of the system is 8.5 liters, so if you filled with pure water and drained, measure the amount you drained so you know how much is left. Then add the appropriate amount of undiluted coolant.

gtstcactus

When you say the inlet, right side of the car, are you referring to the "2nd or other cap that looks like the radiator cap (on the drivers side of my car being a RHD)? It's the only other cap I know of that looks like a radiator cap, so I'm assuming that's the inlet...

LeX2K

That's the one.

gtstcactus

\While I was poking around under the hood, and under the car today trying to drain the transmission I had a look for the drain plug on the engine block.... Couldn't find it....

I thought I found the one on the radiator but now I'm not so sure... What I could see looked kind of like a plastic plug you'd find in a hot water bottle.... Not sure if that's it or not as it was on the engine side of the radiator, not the bumper side as shown in the picture... Guess I will have to have another look...

If it get's too hard to find I'll just drain the radiator, and then add distilled water to the inlet mentioned above and run the car, and repeat this a few times until the stuff in the coolant system looks like water instead of the brown muck in there at the moment.

LeX2K

That's it.

gtstcactus

Ok one drain plug found........... Now I just need to locate the plug on the engine...

More questions....

1. Should I be able to find the plug on the engine without removing anything, or do I need to start pulling stuff off to get to it?

2. Is it easier to access / locate from the top or bottom?

3. Is the engine plug the same type as the radiator (like a hot water bottle plug for lack of a better description)?

4. Does one undo them like a bolt or screw, or do you pull them out?

Gerson

iTrader: (1)

Plug is on the rear and close to the rear engine mounting bracket. You take a long piece of hose that'll fit the drain and open it until it comes out. Do not completely take the screw out cause it'll splatter everywhere. Reachable from the bottom.

gtstcactus

do I need to remove anything to see the engine plug?