I'm curious as to how often SC430 owners change/flush their radiator coolant. In the service manual it recommends inspecting it every 15,000 miles. More specifically, do any of you change this out based on a time period, miles, or by simply inspecting it's color every 15,000 miles or so?

 

If the coolant is the red Toyota super long life LL the chane interval is 5 years/100k miles.

 

Hello, just a question here, after I checked the engine coolant behind the fan, the Red fluid was below the "low" level line.

Do I just buy the "Red Coolant" from the dealer ($25) and fill to the "max" line?

again, the Red coolant was below the bottom hash mark after driving 30miles.
(the engine was very warm).....

 

Add the pre-mixed red coolant from dealer to the full line when engine is cold.

 

Go to the dealer and they will top it off for you

 

I bought about a year ago, had 49500 miles. I now have 56K. Not sure when (if ever) coolant was changed. Should I have it changed? Thanks!

 

I left my factory fill engine coolant in the LS until first TB/WP service at 90k miles. I will then change coolant again after 60k so next change would occur at 150k miles. Then at 2cd TB change at 180k miles (because they remove radiator to do the TB and water pump so they drain and refill coolant. At the rate I'm adding miles (100k currently) my guess is I won't get to 180k miles until 2028 : )


I had the TB/WP done on the 2004 SC at 28k miles because when I bought it it was 12 years old so the service was performed based on age rather than miles. My guess is that on the SC I'll likely never get to 90k (31k currently) as its a 3rd car that we only drive for fun on sunny days when its neither too hot or cold.

 

I agree with Jabberwock that since you've purchased an '02 SC, the real question is "has the timing belt been replaced". If not, it's long over due from a time interval perspective which I believe for the '02 is either nine or ten years, but well below the mileage interval requirement. So, if the timing belt has never been changed, get that done and they will drain and replace your coolant. It would also be wise to do a search on the timing belt or timing belt kit in this forum to read about what also should be replaced in addition to the timing belt, like water pump, thermostat, pulleys, etc, since in many cases it's not the belt that breaks on it's own, it can fail due to a seized pulley.

 

If you're concerned about it, changing the coolant is very easy. Buy 50/50 Toyota long life from either Lexus or Toyota I think it ran my $20-$25. There is a white bleeder screw at the bottom right of the radiator(looking at it) unscrew that until the coolant comes out of the clear straw next to it. Put a drip/oil pan underneath, wait until it is done draining, screw the bleeder back in and top off the radiator and then radiator tank over flow to full. Boom and your done. Its easier than changing your oil. I can only imagine what the stealership would charge to do such a simple job.

 

The 2006 is350 was bought in 2016 at 180k miles. Now, almost 200k miles in 2021.

Not sure if the coolant was ever changed in history. I didn’t see any coolant change record in the carfax when I bought it.

The pink coolant is clear and ph test strip shows ph above 7(light greenish color).

Engine temperature had been fine. Density check was fine as well.

Do I need to change the coolant?