Little low on coolant; what should I add

If your only a little low, let’s assume 6 or 8 oz. or so. Then you just add the same with distilled water. No need to buy a full jug and store the rest.

 

edited my post so as not to spread misinformation, had no idea they were that different from one another. Glad I picked up the 50/50 pink the other day and not the undiluted red.

 

Sawdust

 

My pink 50/50 from the dealer has a pink top...

 

So......, I went down that rabbit hole until my head was spinning. If I understand anything about this, my 2009 Tacoma requires the Pink Super Long Life prediluted antifreeze with no aftermarket additives, correct?

 

The FSM states "TOYOTA SUPER LONG LIFE Antifreeze Coolant" or equivalent"

Manual transmission 9.7 liters (10.3 US qts, 8.5 lmp.qts)

Automatic transmission 9.8 liters (10.4 US qts, 8.6 lmp.qts)

Diluted or concentrate doesn't matter. You can buy either. If you buy the concentrate, you just have to mix in distilled water yourself.

 

But TOYOTA doesn’t sell a SLLC that’s not diluted 50%. I’ve spent years, literally, reading about coolants. If you do a complete flush, thoroughly, and use an equivalent coolant that’s not Toyota then you should be fine. Mixing ANY 2 different coolants that aren’t identical has resulted in sludge. In my case, it was compatible coolant to Toyota yet mine still created a brown, rust colored sludge even though I very thoroughly flushed it. I seriously spent hours flushing with the Prestone kit and distilled water, draining the radiator and engine block but it still created the sludge. Seeing as this only needs to be done every ~50K miles, it’s worth it to just spend the extra coin and use Toyota SLLC.

 

just to clarify i drained my radiator and my engine block on my 2.7l

i then filled it with hose water, and drained it again...then i closed the drain and the radiator and filled it, started it for a bit, then shut it off again and drained the block and radiator again.

then i filled it with a mixture of the green add to any color antifreeze from napa and water from my hose.

that was a couple years and 70 thousand miles ago.

i have had no problems at all.

my truck hs just over 170k miles.

your mileage may vary.

 

On a cold morning, before you start it, take a marker and mark the cold coolant level. Then drive it a good 30 minutes, stop and mark your hot coolant level.

Once a week, on a cold morning, check your level against your cold mark, then drive it about 30 minutes and then check your hot mark.

Only way to tell if you are loosing coolant.

If you are loosing coolant there are only 2 ways. Head OR head gasket issue OR a leak in coolant system. If you find that your not loosing coolant, no worries.

 

I agree 100% on mixing. I wasn't sure if Toyota made the SLLC in concentrate or not that was the premise of my statement, and it was more generic for any vehicle for that matter. I've stuck to the 50% mix myself.

Another option you may do if you find you're coolant becoming clogged up is to get yourself a coolant filtration system. I have one on my diesel and it's nice peace of mind. It uses a Baldwin filter.

 

AS far as which coolant to use, don't mix them, just get specs right. Currently I think, have to check, I'm running GM concentrate diluted with distilled water. But meets specs.

 

Just keep coolant in it, don't mix, don't use strait water so it freezes up, keep mix right, watch level, your fine man!!!!!

Worry about other stuff!

If you find your loosing coolant.... NOW WORRY!!!!!!!

 

Owners manual for all Toyota's clearly state what should be used. Oil - transmission fluid - coolant - power steering fluid - gear oil - etc.- yet it remains a mystery to so many.

 

Manufacturer's always say to use their stuff because it's always more expensive. Prestone says it's fine to use their green coolant in Toyotas - and I do. Does anyone really think Toyota uses some special aluminum alloys in the engine and radiator that no one else does? I flushed my cooling system ~5 years ago and replaced it with green Prestone. It's still fine, just pretty green coolant. I'm not going to debate, if you want to buy the pink Toyota stuff, ok, but you don't have to. I doubt many would say we have to use Toyota gear oil in the differentials - that's accepted as ok, but somehow coolant gets different logic applied because Toyota decided to make theirs pink.

The one exception to this IMO would be ATF- there are some differences here so I would use what the OE says.

 

I would do a mark on tape... Rather than having 4,000 marks on my tank by the end of the life of my vehicle.

 

I agree with you mostly, but, you believe the coolant mfr's that their stuff is compatible, but not trans fluid mfr's that their stuff is compatible. Yes a trans is a little more important, but still. My personal feeling on this is that coolants have now become a little more complex than they used to be. Before it was grab the green Prestone and go. Now its long life, super long life, extreme long life, still good after youre dead long life , etc. Unless its extremely cost prohibitive, im topping off with whats in there. Im not saying that other coolants arent compatible, im only saying that as an engineer, we specify what we test with.

 

I used the Aisin pink stuff (Super Long Life Coolant). I believe Aisin in the OEM manufacturer of the Toyota's pink stuff, and Aisin is a little cheaper.

 

Try mixing country time pink lemonade and distilled water. I think that's what the 50:50 stands for. It should get it close to the color of OEM coolant and do the trick.

And whenever you're thirsty, just pop that sucker open and drink from it. Hence why it's called coolant.

 

LOL at all these millennials eating Tide Pods when they have Country Time Pink Lemonade or perhaps even Mountain Dew in their parents' radiators