What antifreeze to use?

Now that I'm becoming more familiar with the 08 taco, I started wondering what type of antifreeze I'm supposed to use should my reservoir need refilling in the future. I searched the forum and did not find any threads about types of antifreeze. I saw Prestone had an "any vehicle" antifreeze the last time I was at Autozone but I assume it's green. Is that okay to mix with the factory red antifreeze?

 

it is ok to mix it says on the bottle

 

the antifreeze in your radiator is toyota long life coolant, so thats what i got from the dealership, around $15 for a gallon of the pink 50/50 mix. i think its ok to use something else, as long as its a 50/50 mix.....just to be on the safe side.

 

Just a quick question, why do you need anti-freeze already for an 08 tacoma?

 

he dosent he said if he needs to in the future he was curious on what to use

 

Thanks for the info guys, I appreciate it . . . as emad said, I just wanted to know what to use in the future . . . the truck does not need antifreeze yet.

 

Good post. Something that often gets ignored....

(not ignored, just forgotten about)

This makes me wonder what our antifreeze protection is? I've got one of those cheesy little tubes w/ floaters in it to check the temp rating (I think).
Laugh - that just shows how long its been since I used it.

..too lazy to look it up and keep this topic going for the hell of it...

What does the newer generation trucks recommend in the form of flushing & replacing? I think my 96 tacoma was 30k miles?

 

Here's a link http://smg.toyotapartsandservice.com/index.php to a scheduled maintenance guide that I don't know if it's thorough enough . . . just something I found quick. You can use the pull-downs to find your vehicle. For an 08 Taco, I couldn't find an entry such as "replace engine coolant." What I did find were several entries for "inspect engine coolant" . . . this is what makes me think this may not be thorough enough.

 

The "new" pink toyota antifreeze is rated for 100,000 miles or 10 years. They reccommend every 50,000 miles or 5 years after that. They also state to NOT use any green antifreeze with the stuff. It a different chemical composition.

 

Thanks Roland for bringing that up. With that kind of rating, why would anyone concern themselves with replacing the fluid. If you need to add an amount of fluid you should have the dealer do some checking on where it went to! ! Just my observation! !

Don G

 

Ssorry my bad, will read again next time...

 

okay so we know it's the pink stuff, does anybody know the actual
dealer number/name of the stuff either pre-mix or what?

 

Use the factory stuff from Toyota, it isn't cheap, but I would recomend it over anything else. It is not pre mixed, use it 50 /50 with distilled water

 

I hear from my mechanic that 60/40 H2O/coolant is still acceptable. I believe that if you need to add a little to the reservoir topping it to the
desired line with distilled/deminiralized water is okay. Just dont' put regular tap water man. your make a big NO, NO if you do.

 

From the 2009 Factory Service Manual, Cooling page CO-3

Use only Toyota Super Long Life Coolant or similar high quality ethylene glycol based non-silicate, non-amine, non-nitrite, and non-borate coolant with long-life hybrid organic acid technology (coolant with a long-life hybrid organic acid technology consists of a combination of low phosphates and organic acids).

Prestone Extended life coolant will work, even though its green.

 

Doesn't Prestone still make the long life orange antifreeze/coolant?

Marc M

 

anybody have a DIY work up on flushing and refilling Taco's my 06 will be five this April.. but it only has 40k on it.. pictures are nice thanks..

they want $89.99 at the dealer to this...

 

Make sure if you do buy coolant it is SILICATE FREE. Otherwise you will introduce silicates and that will lead to premature wear on water pump, etc.

 

easiest thing to do is go and get a jug from toyota. That way you know for sure its the right stuff.

 

I have a friend that works at a radiator shop. He said that the Red Toyota antifreeze is the best stuff he has ever seen. He also said that he would buy in drums if he could. He said that it does not last forever but it lasts longer than any of the others and I should continue to use it for the life of the truck.