Toyota OE Red vs. Zerex Asian coolant

05+ comes with pink Toyota coolant that's premixed. 04 and under comes with red Toyota coolant that isn't premixed so distilled water is required that's also why a jug cost so much since it needs to be mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with distilled water.

 

My '04 had the pink long life new so that's what went back in when I changed it and could only get it pre diluted. Makes me think the '01-'04 use the pink.

 

No my 02 came stock with red.

 

Maybe just a '04 thing then

 

That's very interesting. My truck is also an '04. Maybe I should switch to pink.

 

ok, heres the deal.. 05+ pink.. 04 or older red..
pink is pre mixed, red is not, add distilled water, it's now pink..
Mystery solved..

 

Just curious why the distilled water??

It is such a pain firing up the still to just to make water .

I just have used water out of the hose for all my life. Along with just about everyone I know or worked with.

Is this distilled water something that is delivered in bulk like other oils and fuels??

 

I must have the only '04 that takes the long life pink antifreeze then. My owners manuel even calls for it and says to change it every 100k miles.

 

from my understanding, hose water contains stuff that you wouldn't want in your cooling system, depending on what your city puts in their water.

 

Just checked with the dealer. 2004 Tacomas were the only year to use PINK pre-mix coolant.

 

City what City ??

I am not sure what one gets out of the tap in city( water) systems it sure does not smell like water

 

Gotta love that chlorine taste!

 

Grocery stores carry it for a buck a gallon. It doesn't have all the minerals in it that cause coolant crustyness...











stores sell it for a buck a gallon.
It just doesn't have all the minerals in it

 

Jet has the Zerex Asian coolant (red) for less than Amazon. Free shipping if you buy enough of it.

Zerex apparently also makes an Asian blue coolant, to simulate Honda blue, I suppose. But almost nobody has it.

BTW does anyone now the exact coolant capacity for a change on the V6? FSM says total capacity is 10.3 or 10.5 quarts for a manual transmission (depending upon where you look) but I did not see how much comes out during a change, as some must stay in the block. Just trying to figure out how much I need.

Also, the FSM points to a drain plug on the front of the engine in addition to the radiator drain. Where exactly is that? It's very blurry in the sketch in the FSM:

 

Tap water can be very hard and therefore corrosive. Just like hard water can eat your paint and eat the bottom of your water heater, it can eat stuff in your cooling system. No bueno.

Even gourmet distilled water is only like a buck a gallon, so it is definitely worth it. I usually just get the store brand.

 

i used the pink Zerex about 5k miles ago. No issues here. Found them at O'Reilly

 

Does this distilled water come in like 5 gallon containers or bigger?

If I need enough for all the vehicles I will need about 100 gallons

The antifreeze comes in 55 gallon drums .

 

I found the engine block drain with help from another thread on TW. I doubt I got more than a quart out of that. I drained it in a separate bucket so I could measure it.

I think I got a total of 9 quarts out. So there was like a quart left in the engine somewhere. I also counted the amount that was in the reservoir because that probably goes towards the total listed in the FSM.

I also changed the upper and lower hoses while I was at it, since they were only $9 each.

I refilled with distilled water, drove it for about 25 miles, and then I drained and refilled with Zerex Asian.

 

CVS was asking a $1.50 a gallon for distilled water. Arrowhead brand.

Fart and Smile had a six pack of 1 gallon bottles of Sparklett's distilled water for less than six bucks so that's what I bought.

 

Walmart has distilled water for less than a dollar bro...a gallon. I use it to steam my floors.