DiabloX22

dont do that to yourself for a few bucks get the lexus stuff the internals are made around the coolant. i owned a shop and did a lot of german cars where people put green coolant in and it ate the plastic impellers on the water pumps hoses and other things from the inside out not over night but still. i bought a 3 gallon deal on ebay of genuine coolant for a good price. im just letting you know.

personally I do not believe in "universal" or any fluid that says "lifetime" mercedes bmw say their trans fluid is lifetime, when it burns up they say its the lifetime of the trans buy a new 1 for 8 grand. 1 dealership gave me a hard time ordering fluid saying its not serviceable! even enclosed transmissions are.

DiabloX22

just my opinion. its your call, didnt mean to step on your toes!

Calveryc

Not a problem I am here for opinions.

DiabloX22

I stick with Lexus fluids, if I didn't know about the German cars with green coolant, and see it with my own eyes, I would not believe it. Also trans fluid, Lexus. I buy OEM oil filters ebay usually has a good deal on 3-10 packs, some may disagree with that and know of better after market, until it's proven to me, which it could be I put what's on it back on it. When it comes to differential and transfer case fluids, that's where I would talk to allen553 he knows a awful lot! Royal purple and Mobil seem to be used a lot. I am big on maintaining vehicles, brake flushes ps flushes trans flushes not gravity drain and fill. Any synthetic oil attracts moisture which contains dirt and over time can mess up a system from the inside out. You are preventing a big repair. I learn stuff every time I'm on here, all the guys are more than helpful just hit em up. I just learned I have a common transfer case leak, it's very minor but a good excuse to replace the fluid and O ring! I have so much I have and want to do to mine, I keep buying stuff and can't find the time! Lol, but I am getting there! You did good on the radiator, when I was researching and found the Lexus leak, mine was leaking exactly where yours was, I found Denson and Koyo were the top 2, I think koyo, anyway you won't have that issue again!

chiph9

I agree. I would go with the Toyota Long-Life coolant because of chemistry compatibility.

Once you do this, enter a reminder in your maintenance screen (if you have nav) to change it in 3 years.

Chip H.

cgdrennan

I replaced the radiator in my '04 about a year ago and used a Koyo unit. Truck only had 90k miles on it. I also used xerex asian coolant to save some $. I recently replaced the radiator in my ES300 and used the same coolant. I was debating using toyota coolant, but after reading good things about the xerex asian stuff I decided to go that route. No problems after a year. Has anyone had any problems using xerex asian? Don't compare it to the green coolant because it is not the same.

ALAN553

Regardless of coolant choice, use either pre mixed or distilled water. The big problem comes from hard tap water, leaves mineral deposits on engine plumbing just like household plumbing.

Calveryc

There are a lot of people that don't recommend Xerex Asian but I haven't found a single instance of someone having issues with it.

kwkshift

I think they all leak from there! It's about a 2-hour ordeal to swap out. One thing I did was to leave the lower hose attached the radiator when removing it. Then, connect the lower hose to the new radiator before installing it. There just wasn't any room for me to get to the hose clamp while it was in the vehicle.

Calveryc

I literally just finished swapping mine out. I bought the cable hose pliers and it was a lifesaver. It took about 3 hours the hardest parts were getting the stupid transmission lines off and the bottom radiator bolts. What do you guys do to burp the system? I just fit a funnel tight in the radiator and filled it up while running the truck. I kept filling as it got low but a lot was just going into the reservoir. I've been driving it around the last 20 minutes while watching the reservoir periodically and it seems to be stable.

DiabloX22

Thats all you really need to do as long as you waited for the therm. to open and cycle the heat

chiph9

If you have a partial bottle left, keep it around for a few days - it'll drop a little more as the air bubbles get worked out.

Don't forget to run the heater some, to ensure circulation through the heater core happens.

Chip H.

BradTank

I've used the Zerex Asian as well, I'm all ears if someone with a background in chemistry can tell me why a company with the resources of Valvoline can't make a coolant specifically for Toyota/Lexus vehicles and how it will damage the cooling system. This is not a situation where green coolant for older cars with silicates is being used. It's specific for our cars.

As far as air bubbles, I had to go back and burp mine when I replaced the radiator as I had not got all the air out. I would recommend the funnel tool from Lisle and run it for like 10-15 minutes. Turn the heater on and off, rev the engine a bit, etc. Squeeze the upper radiator hose also. Let it go through several cycles.

Calveryc

One more thing. I noticed that I had a little dried coolant around the coolant bottle like it overflowed while driving. The coolant level is sitting at the F line while hot could it be that it has too much coolant? Or why else would it purge coolant?

cgdrennan

After I changed my radiator I think mine did the same. It fluctuates quite a bit between cold and hot. When cold I have mine just barely above the low line. When warm it sits right around the full line