The Correct Way To Drain/Fill the 4.0 Antifreeze

Um no i dont think so! Im gonna use the green. I know its not corrosive! Go troll somebody else!

 

Then by all means - use green coolant and while you are at it use 10W-30 in your automatic transmission and 3-in-1 oil in your differential.

 

You sir are an idiot

 

Whatever you say...Troll

 

Haha you calling me a troll is the pot calling the kettle black lol

 

I'm not sure if you're being serious. But in case you are....your truck came from the factory with a HOAT pink formula. That's exactly what you should replace it with....either Toyota’s own LLC, SLLC, or some other HOAT formula. The pink/red color will prevent the mess created by mixing 2 different colors.

You can use green coolant as long as it's ideally a HOAT formula. But it would be best to completely flush the system of the pink coolant first.

But that's not necessary if you do 2 or 3 drain and fills over the course of a few days with the proper pink coolant

 

Yes im serious. Ive talked to my local toyota dealer and they told me that they had run into several things that had been "ate up" because of how corrosive the pink antifreeze is. I work at a dealership as well so we have rhe flushing machine there to do it right. Of course ive been told that it will have to be flushed very well because if any of the 2 different coolants mix it will gell up

 

Are you insinuating that Toyota’s own formulas are corrosive? If that's the case, you're losing credibility quickly. There are millions upon millions of Toyota vehicles running around on the factory fill LLC and SLLC that have never been flushed with 200, 300k+ miles on them, with zero issues with the cooling systems.

The Zerex and Valvoline with Zerex pink formulas are silicate-free HOAT mixes that are not corrosive

 

Im not insinuating anything. Im going with the advice of my toyota dealer from what they have seen real world.

 

I would love to know the name of the Toyota dealer that claims Toyota SLLC is corrosive. Please post it.

 

I agree. As a PSA for the rest of us...we need to know the name so we can avoid that service department altogether.

 

Lou Fusz Toyota

 

All i know is that is what i was told. Hell from what you all are saying, they are wrong and after doing several searches on it i believe you all are right. I wont be going there again.

 

OP thanks for the write up! this post helped me drain and flush my coolant system.
Process was very easy for any first timers.
Based on peoples input I only drained from radiator and passenger side of block.
I would recommend starting with passenger side drain first when engine is cold.
I started with radiator and flushed with distilled water 3 times.
On final drain i pulled the passenger plug.
2 problems occurred.
1st: it is extremely difficult to get to 10mm stud with hot engine / headers.
2nd: since i followed service manual interval (100,000 miles) my drain cock was fully seized up.
I ended up un-threading the whole unit to drain. I did NOT anticipate how much hotter the fluid in the block would be or how much would come out of larger hole.
I drove the truck around a fews minutes after each flush and was amazed at the drop in operating temps.

 

Just did mine for the second time. Dain/fill and new thermostat. Took right at 10 quarts of antifreeze. The driver side drain plug was a pain as usual. I forgot how hard it was to reach the back nut on the thermostat. That was worse than the driver drain plug. It definitely was time, the antifreeze was dark pink.

 

Couple questions here....I've read just about everything on this thread but want to be sure....
I have a 2013 TRDOR V6 4.0 at 63K, haven't flushed the coolant yet.

Is "draining the entire system" method the same as the "flushing it through the engine" method?? I've seen both methods done...just want to make sure it's doing the same thing.

I would like to do the draining method...Will i need a fluid pump?

Do you guys recommend changing any hoses while I'm changing the coolant? I assume the dealer is the best place to purchase these...

Thanks guys!

 

Mine has the OEM coolant in it. Never flushed or changed. Running well with 194,600 miles and using the original sparkplugs too.

Want to flush it?
Run a garden hose through it and idle engine for a while until clear
Flush with distilled water twice or more ( buck a gallon at supermarket)
add in the pure coolant (1/2 of system capacity) and then add your distilled water to the top

 

Draining the entire system consists of emptying out the radiator and both sides of the block. Some would say you also need to clean out the heater core. It's my opinion that cleaning out the heater core is not necessary if you have stayed on top of maint from the get-go.
Flushing - do the drain and fill mentioned above and then use garden hose as mentioned above. In order to flush more of the block you would remove the thermostat and put it's cover back on; then flush - but again - if that's all you do - the contents of the heater core remain - not a TOTAL flush.
Personally - I just drain radiator and both sides of block and refill because I change fluids more often than the mfg. schedule calls for.
Countless opinions on what should be done. Pick a card.

 

Awesome...thanks for the input. I think I'll be doing the same with mine...drain the radiator, both sides of the block, and refill.