Coolant, does it have to be this difficult?

So, I've read all the articles, posts, forums, Wikipedia and tea leaves about coolant in Toyota's. I understand the extended life red and the extended life pink and everything in between, including the differences between the OAT, HOAT and the Good Ol' Green stuff. As near as I can tell, the Toyota factory stuff (red or pink depending on the year) is good but not all that earth-shattering; like some would have us believe.
The old green stand-by is good but some claim you have to change it frequently, it doesn't play well with the other colors (sounds a little gang oriented like Bloods & Crips) and it will cause the sun the set in the East if you carry a gallon jug of it in the bed of your Tacoma for more than a half mile .
When I was much younger and we still thought the world was flat, we would just change the antifreeze occasionally and that seemed to work just fine, even during that last ice age we were living in. I knew a fellow that had forgotten more about chemistry than I'll ever know. He told me that ethylene-glycol maintains its antifreeze qualities forever as long as you don't dilute it. It's the anti-corrosion properties of the coolant that degrade over time. That guy would just buy a little bottle of rust inhibitor/water pump lube and pour that in the radiator once a year. Even when he would replace a water pump or a hose; he would save the coolant and put it right back in. I don't recall him EVER having cooling system problems other than the occasional worn out water pump with 100K miles on it.

So, I don't give a damn what color it is and I'm not real keen on $20.00/gallon magic ethylene-glycol.
I drained the coolant from my 03 Tacoma because I purchased the truck used and have no idea what was in there or how long it had been in there. I'm going to declare the stuff that came out to be red (maybe it was pink, does it matter?) I flushed the system with water and re-filled it with NAPA Extended life antifreeze at a 50/50 mix. My tester shows that it's good to -40 degrees. By the way, the NAPA stuff is yellow, not that I care.

Any thoughts?

 

You'll be fine. Just do a radiator drain and refill in about 50k miles.

 

Oh, trust me- I know I'll be fine. I'm just waiting for someone to tell me the earth will start rotating backwards and all life as we know it will cease to exist because I didn't put "red" coolant back in.

 

If it makes you feel better try TEXACO brand I think that's red color

 

I use the mountian dew looking stuff. It doesn't taste like mountian dew though...

 

They say the Toyota Long Life is a Lifetime fill,they say,but that shit aint cheap

 

whatever floats your boat- its your truck, your responsibility

 

Toyota Long Life has been floating my boat for a long time now.

 

I don't believe any fluid in a vehicle is a lifetime fluid. It all wears or gets contaminated after some time. Sure it might last quite a while, but the effectiveness of the fluid will not be as great as replacing it every once in a while with cheaper stuff.

 

Yes that is true Ive changed my out and replaced with Toyota Long Life at 60K and had the timing belt replaced at 110K with new water pump and hopefully new coolant(at stealer)

 

Tell me about it, the green stuff doesn't taste like Gatorade either!

 

/\ True dat!

 

I personally think toyota red and pink are more corrosive then peak or Prestone or the regular stuff.

 

i have always run the green stuff!

 

congratulations