The Correct Way To Drain/Fill the 4.0 Antifreeze

I have a 2005 Tacoma PreRunner with the 4.0 Engine. I know that the original antifreeze should last for 100,000 miles according to Toyato. Yea! Right! Get Real! Anyway, I have studied the correct way to drain and refill, chatted with mechanics, relied on "All Data" Auto Repair and guess what? They are all wrong.
Yes that's right! WRONG!

Here's the real deal...
1. You must remove the skid plate
2. Attached a piece of 3/8" hose to the nipple on the radiator drain cock located on the bottom left of the radiator.
3. Remove the radiator cap and open the radiator drain cock.
4. Once the radiator is empty, close the drain cock.
5. There is one "And Only One" coolant block drain cock on the right side (passenger side) of the engine block. It is to the rear of the engine mount. Attached a 1/4" hose to the nipple and open the drain cock with a 10MM
socket. Once the block is empty, then close the drain cock.
6. Add new Toyato Antifreeze to the radiator. Start the engine and allow the coolant to circulate. Sqeeze the upper and lower radiator hoses. Add more coolant as needed.
7. Once you are satisfied the system is full (it hold 9 quarts), take it for a test drive and at the end of the test drive, check the coolant again and add as necessary.

P.S. The Toyota Antifreeze is around $25 per gallon and you will need three gallons as the coolant system requires 9 quarts.

The End!

Good Luck.....Rex

 

A few questions...

• What do the others say to do that's wrong?
• Do you have pictures of the items you note in your walkthrough?

 

sounds good to me

 

I was told there was a drain cock on top of the engine on the left valve cover and one below the engine oil filler tube on the left side of the block. Both which are not true.

 

question, whats a toyato?

(to the OP)

 

Some pics and a walk through would be nice.

 

Great writeup, thanks

 

The OP is actually wrong. For what it's worth, there is a block drain on the driver's side too.

 

Switch the last two vowels and take a wild guess...

 

so you're saying you like to drain cocks.....

 

Actually to get a 50/50 mix for your coolant, you should only need to buy 2 gallons of coolant, since that is 4 1/2 qts water, and 4 1/2 qts coolant (4 qts in a gal). Unless you used full strength coolant for your whole system.

 

The OP is talking about the super long life pink fluid, which comes pre-mixed at 50-50.

 

Gotcha, didn't know that the coolant came pre-mixed. I retract my previous statement then....

 

My dealer is running a special on the super long life coolant this month and in April. Picked up a couple gallons this morning for $19.95 a gallon of the premixed pink stuff. Not sure how good of a deal it is or if other dealers are doing the same. For others in the middle TN area, it was at Beaman Toyota.

 

i wanted to bump this thread, to see if the orig poster is still here?
i've got some questions about the missing drain plug just behind the alternator....

 

Maybe something someone else can help you with?

 

I just did mine a little over a week ago and I agree for the most part with the OP. There is only 2 drains (radiator and passenger side of engine, but I only needed two gallons of the pre-mixed pink coolant. I change coolant every four years regardless of mileage, it's a time based interval not mileage.

 

So glad I have access to a coolant flush machine. Not sure if this will post or not but here is what alldata shows


1. DRAIN ENGINE COOLANT

CAUTION: To avoid the danger of being burned, do not remove the radiator cap while the engine and radiator are still hot. Thermal expansion will cause hot engine coolant and steam to blow out from the radiator.

1. Remove the service hole cover from the engine undercover.
2. Install a vinyl hose onto the drain on the radiator side.
3. Fix the vinyl hose with tape.




4. Loosen the 3 drain plugs on the engine and radiator, and drain the coolant.
5. Remove the radiator cap.
6. Drain the coolant from the reservoir tank.
7. Tighten the 3 drain plugs. Torque: 13 Nm (130 kgf-cm, 9 ft. lbs.) for the engine
8. Remove the vinyl hose from the radiator.

2. ADD ENGINE COOLANT

1. Pour coolant into the radiator until it overflows.

Capacity



HINT:

* Use of improper coolants may damage the engine cooling system.
* Use only Toyota Super Long Life Coolant or similar high quality ethylene glycol based nonsilicate, non-amine, non-nitrite, and non-borate coolant with long-life hybrid organic acid technology (coolant with long-life hybrid organic acid technology consists of a combination of low phosphates and organic acids).
* New Toyota vehicles are filled with Toyota Super Long Life Coolant (color is pink, premixed ethylene glycol concentration is approximately 50% and freezing temperature is -35°C (-31°F) ). When replacing the coolant, Toyota Super Long Life Coolant is recommended.

NOTICE: Do not substitute plain water for engine coolant.

2. Check the coolant level inside the radiator by squeezing the inlet and outlet radiator hoses several times by hand. If the coolant level goes down, add coolant.
3. Install the radiator cap securely.
4. Slowly pour coolant into the radiator reservoir until it reaches the FULL line.
5. Warm up the engine until the cooling fan operates.




(1) Set the air conditioning as shown while warming up the engine.
(2) Maintain the engine speed at 2,000 to 2,500 rpm and warm up the engine until the cooling fan operates.

6. Squeeze the inlet and outlet radiator hoses several times by hand while warming up the engine.
7. Stop the engine and wait until the coolant cools down.
8. Remove the radiator cap and check the coolant level inside the radiator.
9. If the coolant level is below the full level, perform the steps from (a) through (h) and repeat the operation until the coolant level remains at the full level. Check the coolant level inside the radiator reservoir tank again. If it is below the full level, add coolant.

3. CHECK FOR ENGINE COOLANT LEAKAGE

1. Fill the radiator with coolant and attach a radiator cap tester.
2. Pump it to 118 kPa (1.2 kgf-cm2 17.1 psi), then check for leakage.

 

thanks....

it seems that i can locate the third drain, being behind the alternator & below the oil refill spout, as pictured.
this is the pdf file of the toyota svc manual...

you can see in the picture the three drain plugs.... being a pdf, you can also greatly zoom in on the one that appears to be on top of the block. notice it seems to be mounted sideways? yes pointing the drain off the passenger side. this view is a point of view perspective. you're actually looking down on the block from above, and all the drains are placed in view as if you could see through the block.

be that as it may, i'm wondering if the rest of you are unable to locate the third drain plug? as i have.

btw, i just purchased 3 gallons of the toyota 50/50 pink coolant from the deallers, their shelf price was $26- per gallon. i asked if i bought 3 if he'd make a better price. yes 3 gallons at $60- plus tax

i bought the thermostat $50- approx and will change it all this weekend coming up.

more later,
and thanks

thank