Coolant Change 5VZ-FE

I am going to change out the coolant in my vehicle has anyone done this and do you get enough out of the radiator to get 2 gal's back in.

Useing Toyota Long Life coolant. Or do I need more than 2 gals the capacity is 10.0 gts accirdung to the owners manual.

 

Loosen the valve at bottom of radiator all the way and let it all drain out

PHP:

....the run water thru it to flush it. You'll get very close to 2 gallons back in. Then.....run for a bit then add more to the reservoir if needed. And is only use the Toyota long life coolant. If not....stick to whatever you use...but I wouldn't mix it.

 

Drain the radiator and the block otherwise you will only get 1 gallon in it...there is a pipe thread style plug in the side of your block about 1/2 way down...drain that too, otherwise your only changing half of it...and you will only need 1 gallon of the Toyota red and dont forget to use DISTILLED water to add, not tap!

 

I looked at the engine break down and it showed a drain plug on the right bank of the block so I got a light, creeper, and mirror and I can't even see the plug If I could get at it I would drain it guess I'll just freshen it up a little with the radiator drain and fill.

 

Did some more looking on line and found a picture of the block drain, question do you have to remove the plug ( blue arrow ) completely to drain, or loosen it a few turns, for those of you that have drained the block how tight is that bolt?

And if this takes care of the passenger side of the block what about the driver side.

$25 a gal X3 Ouch!.... I guess I could buy 5-6 gals of distilled water to flush it, and switch to Zerex Asian $12 a gal but I just hate to change horses in the middle of the stream.My luck and Murphy's law I'de have problems.

 

You can flush with hose water, and just refill with distilled water/toyota coolant - the little remaining hose water won't be a problem.

I bought a little flush kit that puts a hose nozzle into the line going to your heater core - a handy way to push everything out of the system and do a strong flush. Don't be tempted to just drain and top off - you don't get the full effect unless you really push the crap out of there. Do it right and you know you are good for a few more years!

-Sam

 

hey everyone, first post here. strange thing is i just went thru all of this today, and just happened to check out this forum afterwards (see if i did it correct). that drain valve on the passenger side of the block is a pain to get to (the haines manual says its on the drivers side, but im assuming theres only one) go in thru the top of the motor bay and feel around under the front port of the header, you can feel the drain hole and right above is the bolt that acts as the petcock. pretty easy to break the seal, didnt need to take the bolt out all the way. Drain the fluid from the side of the block, the radiator petcock, and i changed the thermostat out while i was at it, so i got a bit of fluid from there also. my question is, after filling the tank of the radiator to the neck of the filler and letting it get up to temp, i never saw the fluid level "drop" when the thermostat opened, just swirled around a LITTLE bit, is that normal or should it noticably drop? put in just about as much fluid as came out, i think ( not sure because i used the same drain bucket to catch the flush water), question being, should the level noticeably drop, or just move a bit?

 

welcome to Tw! Really....it just depends on how much air is in the system. Check the reservoir after you drive it for a while.....you'll probably have to add a bit more coolant to it.

 

I got my drained today Radiator and block put in 2gals and about 3 inches into the overflow bottle, the owners manusl said to fill the over flow to the full line didn't see that line.

I went through the fender well with a 2 ft 3/8's drive extention, don't think I could get my arm in there to get at it.

 

hey guys im about to so a flush. i bought a bottle of flushing compound but do i need those hose connectors or is there an other way. i also bought 3 gallons( thinking i could flush all 10 liters) please respond asap. i plan on flushing it tomorrow (1/15/10).

 

I dunno, but I'll do mine tomorrow too, doesn't seem like too much work.

where can I dispose of my old coolant?

 

Why the coolant flushing compound never heard of it and would never use it, just drain the block and radiator at the most I would buy some distiled water and flush with that, after you use the compound how do you know you got all that shit out?

 

the directions say this. run this cleaning agent with amble water in your truck with heat on high for 10 min. then basically wash it all out. thats what i figuered and i dont think it would all have to come out, dont see it hurting it at all.

 

I would think it has some kind of acid to clean the system and that would harm the heater core and radiator, plus now you have the system contaminated with hard water, not to mention if it will react to the new coolant which I would think you are installing Toyota coolant.

 

I need to flush my coolant on my 98 with 218,000 miles. Where is the drain bolt on the block exactly? I noticed some crud on my radiator cap and figured it was probably past overdue.

From what I have read from here and other threads is the following.
Drain the radiator through the bolt and petcock on the bottom passenger side of radiator.
Drain the engine block.
Flush with water, let engine run for 10 minutes or so with heater on full blast.
Drain radiator, engine block again.
Flush with water again.
Drain radiator, engine block again.
Refill with 50/50 coolant/distilled water.
Let engine run while adding more 50/50 mix. Possibly reving engine to remove air in system.

All this sound right?

 

your on the right track. now this is me, mine had 178,000 miles, when i got her and it was dirty! i just used the peacock valve at the rad. I did not want to "risk" unbolting something from the block with the age on the truck, i might be a puss, but i did not want to take the risk, it just takes a more time to drain. only use distilled water, even for the flushing. get her good and warm, I waited 5 mins, and then drained it all out, i even got on the tailgate and pushed down to try to get it all out. get some rad. flush, and add 2 gallones of dis. water, and let her run 30-60 mins, just keep a eye on the truck, and keep the heat on.. turn her off and let her sit for 5 mins... and let her drain out. I repeated the water flush till it drained clear. if you don't know the trucks past, or is really dirty, like mine, I repeated the flush, but left it in for a day, and drove around, carefully, like grandma would, no highway, no racing, but letting it get warm and cold, will help clean the cooling system, and I figured if the rad. was shot, then I wanted it to fail then, while I was in the middle of it. now while you are doing this its a good time to put fresh hoses on her and a new thermostat, and rad. cap, and a good time to remove your expansion tank, and clean it out, you would be surprised at the dirt that can build up in there, no need to screw up new fluid. get OEM thermostat, made in Japan, sorry, but avoid the chinese shit, and Zerex, asian blend is the same at the toyota coolant. Its easy been doing it since I could look over the fender of my grandfathers cars, Just don't let the motor overheat! and the motor does have to burb, fill it up while running, and the expansion tank, and rev the motor some, and keep a eye on it for the first trip or two, might have to add some.

 

Are you saying I can use an other type of coolant besides the Toyota coolant?

 

I got it at NAPA its the Asian coolant, its marked on the jug. its safe for the radiators.

 

sub.

 

I realize it's an old thread, but just did this lat night. Could not find the he block drain until I read @facemob 's comment above that helped me ultimately find it. And yes the Haines manual text is wrong when it states "driver's side" although the diagram (taken from the Toyota FSM) shows correctly the passenger side. The diagram is otherwise useless in that it lacks detail.