jay33

I run the pink coolant in my 2002. all the dealerships i have ever had my car serviced at have switched over to the pink coolant.

stemirra

Posted from ClubLexus.com App for Android

V8_Fan

Ah. I notice you are in AZ. Phoenix? Only in AZ (I lived there 7 yrs) have I ever seen all the coolant in the reservoir (on my Toyota 4runner) evaporate during the summer. It's unheard of anywhere else. I would (with a cold engine) fill the radiator until it's to the top, then fill the reservoir to the full line. Once you drive and the engine gets hot, it will naturally adjust the bottle to equilibrium.

The engine only sucks in (or pushes out coolant) to the bottle when it's sufficiently hot. There's a valve in the radiator cap that opens, allowing hot expanding coolant to flow into the bottle. When the engine cools down, the vacuum sucks fluid from the bottle. The level in the reservoir should settle to a constant value. If you are losing a noticeable amount of coolant in a short amount of time, check for signs of splattering coolant/leaky hoses. Best time to check for leaky hoses is when you've driven on a few miles. Leave the engine running and pop the hood and check under the car for drips. The reason is, only after a few miles, the valve in the radiator cap has yet to open, yet the coolant in the block is warming up and expanding, increasing the pressure in the system. This is how I found a leak in the hose on my Toyota truck..it would only leak in the warm up stage, never when the engine was hot. The other way to find the leak is to pressure test the cooling system.

V8_Fan

$22/gallon, that's it? Last time I bought it, the red was almost $30/gallon and the pink was $20. Do not mix different coolants unless you like replacing a radiator in half a year. The only drawback with the red is you have to change it every 2.5 yrs. Otherwise it loses its corrosion resistance and your radiator will start to rust.

stemirra

Actually after reading your post I checked mine. Radiator was full but reservoir was practically empty. I bought the red coolant from Toyota mixed 50/50 with distilled water and filled it up. I have no leaks. It was just low. 105 degrees + every day here in Texas and it was not checked in a very long time. I guess it evaporated. I did see the white residue too. Cost of the coolant was $26 with my car dealer friends discount at the dealership. I concidered the Asian Vehicle Coolant available at NAPA but elected to go the way I did after reading up on this site. Glad I did.

Bocatrip

The white residue you see is actually the coolant loss that over a period of time causes the drop in the reservoir level.

Jabberwock

Good job. Given the temperature in the engine compartment in the summers , a portion of the radiator fluid mixture will slowly evaporate over time from the reservoir tank and periodically should be replaced. Folks need to always use the correct mix off Toyota radiator fluid and distilled water to refill the LS430 per the manual. btw - the Toyota radiator fluid also provides anti-rust and metal conditioners as well as anti-boil/freeze protection to the engine so it is important to not just add some water (even if you live in the South with no danger of freezing).

chenderson

Ok. Alright. Geez. I've searched for a SIMPLE ANSWER to this VERY BASIC question EVERYWHERE, and can not find one!
I thought this thread would do it, as it is aptly titled. But NOPE, somehow it got just focused on filling the reservoir/expansion tank.

Hi, guys. I have a 2006 IS 250. It does NOT have a cap on the radiator directly. It's on a separate manifold above the engine.
The upper radiator hose goes from this manifold to the radiator, and a smaller tube also goes from there to the plastic spill-over/expansion reservoir tank.

BUT... WHERE EXACTLY do you pour in NEW COOLANT when (re)filling for the first time (say, after a flush or whatnot)?
Do you remove the METAL CAP on the manifold and pour the 9.1L (2.5gal) of coolant into there? Or....
Do you remove the PLASTIC CAP on the plastic reservoir/expansion tank and pour it in there? I don't think so on this one!
But it just doesn't FEEL right pouring it into the metal manifold as most of us are used to having a cap on the radiator itself instead and pouring coolant into the radiator directly.. even though, ya, there is the upper radiator hose where coolant will eventually go ... but in the manifold there is also a tiny hole that goes to the rest of the system (engine). I'm not sure if I'm suppose to pour there and have coolant got into the system of a cold dead, pre-start engine. I just wanted to be 100% sure as to where to put/pour a whole new 1-2 gallons of new coolant! That's all. It'ss s basic, right? LOL. I feel like such a noob. But I've not found any answer on Internet at all .. thus far

BACKSTORY: Driving home, I started to see small amount of steam coming from under hood. I pulled over immediately, and saw some liquid. Pinkish, watery more than oily. I couldn't tell actually if it was more oily or watery, so wasn't sure if Tranny, PS or coolant. Come to learn I have a sealed Tranny, and rack steering (someone told me it even uses magnets to glide!); so that ruled out those two. Not tranny fluid. No power steering fluid (which in most other cars is actually ATF fluid), Anyway, so after narrowing it down, I researched cooling system problems and discovered that I use the reddish "pink" coolant. So, bingo on that. Also, this car hasn't had a coolant flush/refill in its 10 year life, so it's original OEM. And then I ran into a video that talked about radiator caps, and boy, what a work of engineering marvel these caps really are!! LOL.
I took mine off, and the hot pressure shot some fragment up at me and poked my eye out, neighbor had to call 91...NO!! I'M JUST KIDDING!!!... :P
I took my radiator cap off and lo & behold, the middle rubber plunger piece WAS MISSING!! Double Bingo on THIS! But, however, I have NO IDEA where it went, and it really could only have slide down the upper radiator hose into the radiator, as there is NO WAY it would fit into the tiny hole in the manifold leading to the engine cooling system. I took off upper hose and tried to finger the radiator (kinky!) but couldn't feel or get the plunger. I figure screw it, leave it. I'll deal with it later, AFTER i replace the faulty radiator cap with a new one and refill my system with coolant. BTW, I'm going to be using Zerex Asian "pink", and I have ALREADY drained the radiator only from the bottom petcock, and took out the plastic reservoir/expansion tank and emptied & cleaned it. I HAVE NOT AND WILL NOT BE FLUSHING the entire system. I figure (from my research on coolants) that it will be Ok to mix this Zerex with the original Toyota OEM still in the system/engine & remaining on the walls of the radiator. Anyone else disagree??

So, I replaced my faulty radiator cap, and bought 3 gals of Zerex Asian. Emptied the radiator, and I'm ready to pour.

But WHERE DO I POUR ???

Also, I do know about causes of the symptom where the thermometer gauge (in the dash) bounces from hot back down to middle over and over.. (i.e., system gets hot, pressure finally gets so high that it opens up/pushes past the faulty cause (thermostat, water pump, a clog, etc.) and coolant flows and cools system). SO, my point is, if I still get this symptom after replacing the cap and refilling system -- which I WAS indeed getting this symptom on the way home after half the coolant had exited my system due to the bad radiator cap -- then it JUST MIGHT BE that rubber plunger from the old faulty cap that got stuck inside the radiator, blocking/clogging the flow. I hope not! I hope this symptom will DISAPPEAR once I put the coolant in.... BUT..... however....... the question still remains:

How do I do it?? Where does the coolant go on a full refill?

Such a simple thing. I feel so dumb. :/ :P

Thanks in advance, guys!

Johnhav430

Yes, that's where it goes....

this thread shows it on the 4th pic

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...g-service.html

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Both. Pour into the manifold area first since it leads directly to the radiator. Once it's full, then you top off the reservoir.

chenderson

P.s.- ya, the car is 10 years old, and has 165k miles. And I know it's best to do a full system flush, change thermostat, change radiator, check water pump, etc. etc. blah blah BUT, before you guys start advising me on this, I JUST SIMPLY NEED TO SIMPLY KNOW WHERE TO SIMPLY POUR THIS SIMPLY COOLANT!! LOL. Thanks!

In the meantime, awaiting a SIMPLE answer, I will go ahead and check the thermostat in upper radiator hose area. I found a GREAT 2-minute video on it. It's from this site called.. something like.. ClubLexus... :P :P :P
Thanks guys. !!!

chenderson

OMG. Thanks for such quick reply, guys!

Ya, GSteg (Henry), that's what I was leaning toward (from my intuition on cars, but I am no expert, especially on these fancy new advanced modern cars). I just needed to make sure it's OK to pour into that hole.

So, fill'er'up! And then top off the reservoir. Awesome.

Thanks so much again!

Johnhav430

oh one more thing, I'm relatively new to the Toyota world, and was floored when I discovered Toyota SLLC2 only comes in 50/50, and costs $26/gal. Never in my life have I bought 50/50, as I like 65/35 (beyond 70% antifreeze protection goes down). But to say it's $52/gal for theoretical 100% is a joke. Even BMW coolant is $25 for 100%.

anyway, Walmart sells a SLLC2 approved Asian coolant for $11.xx in the store, and $8.xx if you order online and pickup in the store. I think it's made by Valvoline but the word Zerex is prominent on the jug. It's pink like the Toyota stuff. Good luck. FYI when I got my car the coolant had evaporated over time. Once I filled it, after two top offs, it was fine. Then I had the dealer replace it....they charged $129, not cheap, but what the hey.....

2KHarrier

That's what I use. Works great. But remember, It does evaporate over time.

I took my 2005 in to the dealership a few days ago to have the winter tires installed and they called me to tell me the tank was low and it no doubt needs a new water pump and you might as well do the timing belt again while were in there blah blah blah... All to the tune of 1400 dollars.

I told them thanks, but I'm ok right now.

I notice the Zerex 50/50 mix evaporates on my 2001 as well.