2014LES350

It's gonna be 105F today (and over 100F for about two weeks), but my wife insists on driving all over the place, and she's got a history of not observing the gauges or idiot lights (she drove her '88 Fiero home 20 miles after the oil pressure light came on). She HAD to go meet her high school friends this morning for brunch, and left before I could get up and dressed, to check the Lexus' fluids.

It wouldn't have mattered if I'd have found low coolant level, since I haven't bought any "Toyota/Lexus" -specific antifreeze, yet (though I have GM and BMW coolant). If her Lexus had been low on coolant, the best I could've done is to use Qzarka Distilled Water, instead.

And, of course, she COULDN'T drive our back-up vehicles (she LOVES her Lexus), all of which I've maintained : '98 GMC (her pickup), '04 Chevy 2500HD (my pickup), or the '09 Chevy HHR Panel (our common back-up utility vehicle). Also, my personal driver (off-limits to her, a '01 BMW X5 E53 3.0i "project vehicle", which had the Auxiliary Fan die yesterday...it was 23 years-old..., so the DME/ECU won't let the A/C compressor run without it) is gonna be down until I get a new Aux Fan, and neither of us wants to take a drive in it , and cook in the heat. I just tested the BMW using my Foxwell NT510 Elite scan-tool, and narrowed the problem to the fan. I still need to check some fuses, but I was melting, and quit for the day.

Which coolant is the forum favorite for the 2014 Lexus ES350? I don't know much about Toyota's prefences, but I do know if you use the wrong color coolant (not orange Dex-Cool) in GM cars, it's not good. Even BMW recently changed their coolant preference, so I got the blue coolant that my X5 came with. Toyota/Lexus is all new to me, this being the first I'd ever touched, in 58 years of working on hundreds of vehicles.

LeX2K

This has been discussed to death you will get every possible opinion some based on real world use others based on, well I'm not sure. Use what you think is best.

st1800

Exactly……

Just go to the Toyota dealer and buy it. Or Toyotaparts online. It’ll help you sleep in.

2014LES350

I think I'll just get a gallon or two of Asian "Pink" coolant, next time when at an autoparts store or Walmart (I avoid dealerships). My wife will love having "Pink" coolant in her personal car (I'm not allowed to drive it much, except when she requests it). Pink is her favorite color, and my least favorite.

Audiobahn20

I would never be willing to take a chance or a shot in the dark on something as vitally important as coolant.
The two most important fluids in any vehicle (well before fuel) is motor oil and coolant.

Therefore read your owners manual and use ONLY what it tells you to use unless your going to take the time and understand the chemical composition of the OEM coolant and find a suitable aftermarket of the same. Considering your post, I'm guessing that's not a consideration. When asking fluid questions on a LEXUS forum you will mostly get opinions, opinion can be dangerous in this case. Therefore I would go to something like "Bobistheoilguy" for facts.

LeX2K

I've tried to convince people why Toyota coolant is superior, I gave up. So instead I recommend people buy that cheapest, most easily obtained coolant possible. Also mix this with Toyota coolant to see what happens and make sure to post the results.

2014LES350

I am not of the opinion that Toyota can walk-on-water (note: how about their 100000 engine recall ??), and I believe that there are some trusted manufacturers that can come really close to cloning the Toyota coolant formula (I don't buy store brands). And, I've been perusing "BoB Is The Oil Guy" site for many years, and you'll never find a consensus on anything.

I'll buy one of my go-to brands that I've used for decades without issue, and hope that the formulation I buy isn't subtly wrong. Too many formulations out there, and no specific info given out by Toyota-Lexus. At least, I'll never use the "universal" coolant that some may try (if, like me, they have vehicles from several manufacturers on hand). Using that stuff can foul you up, real fast.

All I was asking was if anyone knew the precise color/formulation that came installed from the factory, for the 2014 Lexus ES350. The owner's manual doesn't say, and I'm sure the Toyota/Lexus parts counter person either doesn't know, or care about it, and just wants to sell his stock, regardless.

LeX2K

Then I don't see a problem just buy that coolant.
If you've used brand X for decades then I'd hope by now you'd know if it was good or not.

Audiobahn20

Quite honestly based on your responses and the questions raised, I would say you're simply looking for the easiest way out and someone to just tell you the answer, rather than finding it on your own. I would venture to say that others here have realized the same.. If you cannot learn the science of practically ANY maintenance fluid on BITOG's forum, I'm just not sure what to even say... Again I think it comes back to basic effort as the info is everywhere for the taking.

Its not about a brand its about chemistry, as I mentioned prior. The required coolant type IS indeed listed in the manual, in fact you don't even have to physically open your manual you can find it online and easily view page 839! The suggestion of just going to the dealership was because you were seemingly unwilling to do the leg work and this was a fail safe option. I will tell you that IF you put a silicate or nitrite complimented or high phosphate based coolant in the engine, death is most likely near... in terms of needing a full coolant system rebuild and at that time you would be crossing your fingers that it did not corrode the coolant passages and galleys in the block and heads...

rmak

Toyota coolant is superior in a Toyota product. Buy it, use it, smile.

DaveyAMF

I use Evans waterless coolant in all my vehicles and have done so since 2002. It's a "permanent" coolant. Saved one of my engines once when the radiator cracked and I had a partial loss of coolant. Since there's no water, there was no steam and hence no overheating which would typically crack the head.
It's a little involved to install it but once you do you will realize other benefits such as no corrosion since there's no water, much higher boiling point, and never having to change it again. Another engine of mine was prone to overheating and boil-over (it was a motorcycle) and this coolant cured that problem. I think the root of the problem was too small of a radiator, but using this coolant allowed me to the run the bike as-is and run it hotter without the danger of overheating it (since there's no steam).
Anyway the procedure:
drain all coolant from whatever access ports you can
Use compressed air to blow out as much as you can
Fill up the system with Evans Prep Fluid and then drain & blow out again. I did this twice.
Fill up the system with Evans Coolant
Test water content with hygrometer to make sure it's below 2% or somesuch and you're done

NdYAG

So it is basically undiluted ethylene glycol. Have you ever wondered why all manufacturers add water to antifreeze? Do you think they do it just to save a few $$$?

DaveyAMF

I don't know. It has worked for me for over 20 years on various vehicles, so that's my experience.

LeX2K

Boiling point is 190 °C pure ethylene glycol is 197 °C. Never heard of EC-004 it contains:

Ethylene glycol 107-21-1 74-90%
Diethylene Glycol 111-46-6 5-15%
1,3 Propanediol 504-63-2 1-10%
Potassium 2-Ethylhexanoate 3164-85-0 <4%
Potassium Neodecanoate 26761-42-2 <2%
Denatonium Benzoate

Specific gravity is not stated. Dunno if I want to perform a long term test.

703

so you’re telling us that you have worked on 100s of cars but need to come to this forum to ask what is everyone’s favourite antifreeze ?

I don’t really get it.