coolant drain & fill from dealership

just paid the dealer to do a coolant drain & fill on my 2020 tacoma. I had initially asked for a coolant flush but a drain and fill was the only service they offered. I follow The Car Care Nut on youtube and coolant fluid is recommended by him every 5 years or 100,000 miles which ever comes first. I popped the hood after picking up my truck and I could immediately tell neither the coolant overflow reservoir cap or the radiator cap had been touched or removed, the dust on both caps was perfectly intact and would have been impossible to remove these without obvious hand or gloves wiping the dust. I then checked underneath the radiator and the drain valve/nipple did appear to be wet so I'm thinking maybe they drained and filled it from the radiator drain hole with a machine/pump? I get suspicious of these dealerships performing the work properly or even if they do the work at all and still charge a premium. I had an automatic transmission drain & fill done as well at 60,000 miles. I hope like hell they did indeed perform the work. I do my own oil changes at home but thats about it for my own maintenance I perform aside from the front/rear differential and transfer case fluid (i did these on my own as well).

 

From your description you should at least be able to tell if the caps have been removed. The fluid should also look different, like a brighter cleaner color. Personally I have never done a coolant flush or drain and fill on dozens of vehicles over 50 years. Never had a radiator or heater problem. Only had to replace a couple of rad caps due to age failure. Doing everything that someone says on a vid is often and usually way overkill.

 

If you don't trust a place, find an alternative.

 

A proper drain and fill will remove 95% of the coolant from the truck. The radiator and block drains are in good spots. They should have opened both those drains, filled the radiator and evacuated the air and then filled the reservoir. If the caps are still dusty, that’s pretty suspect.

 

If caps haven't been removed how did they fill with fresh fluid ? I'd go back and ask questions. Maybe stop creidt card payment if they can't prove or you're convinced work not done.

 

Theyre going to perform the service better than you...
If the drain is wet, they did the work...
you cant fill it from the drain without removing the cap....

If youre questioning it, dont touch it...
Put in the work & go back to the dealer, show a manager...

My guess is it was done....

 

A couple gallon jugs of coolant is roughly $40. I'd drain and fill it again yourself. It's not hard.

 

Correct. Actually easier than the oil changes you're already doing.

 

I do coolant replacement like clockwork. With mixed metals, you need to replenish the cathodic properties in it that get used up protecting the less noble metals that would sacrifice themselves to protect the more noble ones if the properties were depleted.

But, you have to remove the radiator cap to do it right on a fill and you need to drain the overflow also and refill to the proper level. I [unfortunately] trust pretty much no one to do fluid changes anymore or IF they do it, to do it right. That goes for diff, X-fer cases, and transmissions. They are all things that most people don't have a clue about anymore and it's easy money in the bank to claim it's done, and at most, top off if needed.

I spend a decent amount of time after a drain and fill warming the engine up, allowing the thermostat to open, burping the system properly, and adding coolant while at a 20% nose up angle. I use a fill reservoir that fits in place of the cap so it can burp without losing coolant everywhere.

 

Aren't these engines all aluminum?

 

The block and heads are but are they all the same type of aluminum with the exact alloy? There is also lubricant in it for the water pump.

 

I ordered three jugs of Toyota antifreeze had them shipped to the house, drained the radiator re-topped it off with new drove it for a month drained that out of radiator. Added new drove it for a month, and then did it one more time, drained the radiator added new and left it. The way I see it, I probably got most of the antifreeze refurbished mixed in with a little bit of old, good enough for another hundred thousand miles. This was much cheaper than having the dealer do it.

 

Why not just use the block drain as well as the radiator petcock and only do it once?

 

Here is a video from the Maintenance Map thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHj-3wU1cZE

 

How long do you guys get out of the radiator and heater hoses ?

When you change them do you use oem clamps?

 

Didn’t want to mess with the engine block drains. I’m sure the antifreeze was similar to the same amount as if you did a complete flush and refill so to me it was not worth the hassle. Also very easy to squeeze the hoses to burp the air out without a bunch of contraptions connected to the radiator cap area. I say it’s plenty of good enough.

 

I changed mine after about 5-6 years and used the existing oem clamps. You'll need some hose clamp pliers with extended reach capabilities.

https://www.autozone.com/wrenches-p...B3kJCLuEAQYAyABEgLji_D_BwE&new_store_set=true

 

Thanks for that……are the oem clamps better than the standard hose clamp?
…..so you wouldn’t need that tool and also be able to fix roadside.

I think one of my clamps has some rust on it too.

 

This is like the simplest maintenance for a vehicle that’s always been maintained. Drain a gallon only from the radiator, replace with new antifreeze. Forget the engine block drains. In 3 or 4 yrs. Do it again. Replenish and maintain,simple and effective.

 

I perfer to use Toyota branded coolant, the dealer sells it for a reasonable cost. It takes 2 gallons to do a full service.

Toyota made draining the coolant very easy.

Get some 5/16" ID hose, it fits the radiator drain too. If you leave the radiator cap on when you drain the radiator (before draining the block) it will siphon the fluid out of the recovery bottle too.



After you have got all you can from the radiator, draining the block is easy.
Remove the passenger wheel, pop the top plastic clip out and gently fold the splash shield down.



And find this handy block drain.



A long extension and a 10MM socket.



The coolant won't gush out, just get it draining and go do something else for a while.

Fill it up nice and slow, keep squeezing the top radiator hose to work the air out.

Double check/top up the level in the recovery bottle after a few days.