Coolant Level

Do I fill my coolant level to the maximum line when the engine is cold? It is currently at the minimum line with the engine cold. I have bought the coolant from Toyota, I'm just not sure if I should fill it when the engine is hot or cold, and whether I should fill all the way to the maximum line.

 

it wont hurt I do that if mine is low in my vehicles

 

ditto, mine was nearing the minimum level. i just filled the reservoir with the pink toyota coolant till i reached the max.

probably better when cold, i noticed the level reads a little higher after the engine has reached operating temps and i've been driving around.

 

*generally* the min line is min-cold and the max line is max-hot. But I've seen coolant reservoirs on other vehicles that specify a min and max for both hot and cold.

 

With all this said, should I just add fluid to the reservoir to a level between min and max when it is cold?

 

That will be sufficient.

The bigger question is where is the coolant going? Water pump leak, burning coolant via head or egr, radiator leak? A tiny amount will evaporate over time. How often do you have to top it off?

 

Almost definite by evaporation. This is the first time I have had to add fluid and it is a 2008 with 40,000 miles. I think I am OK. I am the original owner.

 

I just picked up some Toyota Long life yesterday to refill the overflow. I filled it up and let the truck run to temp and it was almost at the full line so I left it. I also had to fill the power steering reservoir a little too. Luckily I had a new bottle of ATF fluid in the garage so I used a turkey baster with an extension on the nozzle to take out what I could from the reservoir and filled it back up to the cold max level.

 

I fill mine to just below the max line when fully warmed up. It will go higher than that when running up hills and such on a hot day. The gauge doesn't move, but that does not mean it isn't heating up a bit. If you fill to max when cold, it will puke out on the ground if you get it hot enough.

 

Did you fill it to the full line when it was cold? If so, have you had problems with it overflowing when the truck is warmed up?

 

First I checked the fluid level in the radiator when it was cold to see if it was full and then I added some coolant to the overflow (closer to high than low) and ran my truck until it was up to temp and checked the level in the reservoir. Since it was basically at full I called it good. Remember it's an overflow reservoir that's there for the coolant when the system gets hot. I figure as long as it's within the upper and lower levels it's good.

 

Quick question:
Why did you take all of the fluid out of the reservoir? Could you not just add some to it?

 

Fluid change, probably. It does get dirty.