V6 Antifreeze/Coolant Change How-To

Here is a how-to for changing the antifreeze/coolant on a 2nd gen V6. My truck is a 2014, yours may be different.

First thing is to get some 5/16" inside diameter tubing if you don't want to make a mess. I had 1/4" id tubing and had to heat and stretch the end to make it work.

Find the drain for the radiator. Mine is located on the drivers side bottom corner of the radiator, right above the square hole in the front skid plate.



Attach your tubing and drop it into a bucket or drain pan. I used a 2 gallon paint bucket.





Open the drain valve, turning counter-clockwise. Keep screwing it out until the coolant starts to flow. If you remove the radiator cap, it flows a lot better.




While your radiator is draining, now is the time to drain the coolant reservoir.




I used a cup under the drain to catch the fluid. Using pliers, squeeze and remove the clamp holding the cap on the drain. Remove the cap and drain the reservoir. After the fluid drained, I poured some distilled water into the reservoir to rinse it out.




After the radiator and reservoir have drained, close the drain valve on the bottom of the radiator and reinstall the drain cap and clamp on the reservoir. Remove the tubing from the drain on the radiator.

Now it's time to move to the engine block drains. There are 2 block drain valves, one on the drivers side and one on the passenger side. They look like this.




Here is the drivers side drain. Look over the upper control arm and in front of the starter.




Here is the passenger side. Look over the rear of the upper control arm.




Starting with the drivers side, slide your tubing onto the block drain and down to your bucket. I put the bucket on the inside of the tire.




I used a 10mm socket, a universal joint, a few extensions, and ratchet to loosen the block drain.



Loosen the block drain bolt turning counter-clockwise until the fluid flows. Only loosen the brass colored bolt.




After all the fluid has finished draining, close the drain. Be careful not to over tighten! Repeat the process on the passenger side. Make sure to remove the tubing from the drains.

Now it's time to refill the system. I used Valvoline 50/50 ready to use antifreeze/coolant from Walmart. I bought 3 gallons but only needed 2.




Fill the radiator and reservoir with new coolant.




Start the engine with the radiator cap still removed, a little coolant may overflow from the radiator while the engine is running. Let the engine warm up, it will purge the air from the system. You should see bubbles from the coolant while the air is purging.




Let the engine warm up to operating temperature, keep filling the radiator as it goes down. Once the engine is up to temperature, reinstall the radiator cap. I used a garden hose to wash off any coolant that spilled in the engine bay.

Take your truck for a short drive and then check the coolant level in the reservoir, refill to full mark if needed.
DO NOT REMOVE THE RADIATOR CAP WHILE THE ENGINE IS HOT!!!

Check the radiator and engine block drains for leaks.

Check the coolant level again in a few days to make sure it's topped off.

This is how much coolant that was left over from 2 gallons after I finished.




The coolant that was removed from my truck was really clean, it had a little tan colored sludge in the bottom of the drain bucket but that could have been from a dirty bucket. My truck has only 43,000 miles, but it's 6 years old. The coolant has never been changed before.

Be responsible and recycle your old Coolant!

I hope this helps someone, it's always better to DIY.

 

Nice write up!

 

Very good write up with pictures, but here's a little tip. As the engine is warming up with the radiator cap off, you can "burp" the air out of the system by squeezing the large hose in this picture while the engine is running. Get yourself one of these spill free funnels as well. It also helps to park with the vehicle pointing nose up or if you have those drive up stands (or jack-stands) to assist the air bubbles in working their way up and out. Additionally, if you are doing a flush (not a drain and fill), remove your thermostat and you wont have to wait for the vehicle to warm up to flush the fluid. Keep in mind that on your last drain and fill to reinstall the thermostat.

This is one of those things that I still need to do. 8 yr old truck on stock coolant, it'll be a good project to do during this upcoming covid vacation.

-J

 

Thank you for the very good writeup and pictures. I just did the same thing yesterday on my 2011.

Here are a few observations that may be helpful. With truck slightly front elevated, I first drained a little over 3 quarts drained from the radiator. With the overflow tank added, the total was just under one gallon. I did the passenger side block drain first since it was the easier to access. I accessed it through the wheelwell without removing the wheel. About 3.5 quarts came out of it. I found the driver's side very difficult to access. I tried from above, underneath, and through the wheelwell without taking off the wheel, with no success. Eventually, after much effort I was able to get it done from above even though the plug cannot be seen from above. <Edit: I did remove the bracket as shown in post #12.> You might be able to see the drain plug if you remove the battery, and I was considering doing so, but was able to feel my way through it. Only about a cup and a half of fluid drained out of this plug. In hindsight, to me it wasn't worth the effort of accessing it.

My total amount drained and refilled was very similar to the OP. The total system capacity is 10.3 quarts, so we were able to change out 75-80% of the fluid. Not bad!

 

flush out the heater core and you'll get the rest

 

Nice write up.

 

Been using the Valvoline Zerex for years on all manner of Toyota vehicles. Never an issue.

Our rigs call for a Phosphate free P-HOAT formula. That's exactly what the Zerex is. Even tinted pink to match the SLLC. $13 a gallon at Wal-Mart. No brainer

 

Yes, I figured that most of the remaining old fluid was in the heater core. I thought about disconnecting the hoses from the pipes going through the firewall and using compressed air to push the fluid out, but decided against it. If I would have used city water to flush out the core I would have been stuck with 2 quarts of water in the system, which would have diluted the coolant. I'd rather have the old fluid than water since all of the coolants are pre-diluted now. Is there another way for the home mechanic? I'm happy with getting 8 quarts changed, compared to 4 quarts by draining only the radiator and overflow tank.

 

Couldn't reach the driver side plug with my tools...
Do you think Its a good idea to start off the engine for a few seconds with the passenger side and the radiator drains opened to drain the maximum ?
If you don't recommend does it matter if my prestone Asian will be mixed with what left?

Right now I was able to drain A lot thanks to the jack I moved from the left to right

 

I had no problem reaching the driver side drain with the extensions and universal joint in the original post.

 

I know but as I said I am limited with my tools

 

Drivers side drain plug - helps to remove the bracket I include in one of the photos. My arm kept making contact with it. Very little drained out of the passenger side when I did it. Most came from the radiator and drivers side drain plug.

 

Thanks
Yes I saw my drain plug, but it is right in front of the driver suspension

 

If you drained your radiator and the passenger side drain, you should be ok. I wouldn't feel comfortable cranking the engine with no coolant in it.

 

Ok i just started for a few seconds just a little bit drained but not enough to justify that
I was able to drain almost 8 liters

I think it's ok I will refill now

 

You should use this to funnel kit to fill your cooling system instead of letting it overflow out of the radiator and making a mess everywhere. I sucessfully used this to burp all of the air pockets out the cooling system of my Tacoma and as well as other vehicles that have a hard time with air pockets like the Nissan VQ37 engines.

Lisle 24970 Spill Free Funnel w/VW Adapter, Multi-Colored

https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-24970-Spill-Funnel-Adapter/dp/B072BWG5GF

 

I just drain the radiator and overflow once every few years. 2005.....still ticking.

 

Good write up.

 

I agree, these kits are great for burping the system and keeping spills to a minimum. I went with the following kit which is a little bit cheaper, but worked great:

$21 EPAuto Spill Proof Radiator Coolant Filling Funnel Kit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I40ZQWE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Has anyone tried using a vacuum filler like this?


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Vaw2TCYP5yGH_q0AwXdnmOAH0&cshid=1588271537899

I have one from back when I owned a diesel, just wasn't sure if there are any issues using it on a Tacoma. When I used it on my F250 I was able to fill about 5 gallons of coolant in about a minute with zero mess or burping required afterwards.