Radiator coolant flush time

i am 2300 miles sway from the 100k mark and it’s time to flush the cooling system. I read several threads and as usual with Toyota nothing seems easy. So red and pink coolant are not the same although some say they are compatible and others say they aren’t. Since pink is not sold as a concentrate I am stuck with 50/50 mix. This raises two issues to me. First if I flush with distilled water then add pink, it won’t really be 50/50 since there will always be water left in the system to dilute it further. Second is Canadian winters are often colder than the minimum temp range of pink so I read to mix 70/30 to lower the freezing point of the pink. If there is only 50/50 premix, this would be impossible. I can’t use a block heater as I will not be in Canada during winter months and the taco will be. Anyone tackle these problems before?

 

I won't try to advise about a Canadian winter. Other Canadian members will chime in I'm sure. Bishop84 is a Canadian dealer tech.

A very knowledgeable tech who was once active on the Toyota 4Runner site said there were differences between the Red and Pink Toyota Formulations. He made it clear to use Pink if that's what your owner manual called for. I prefer to go with that vs. forum DIY rant.

 

Yeah I was planning on using pink since that’s what’s called for but it leaves me with both issues of concern.

 

You might give these guys a call - see contact info. I see a lot of "Canada only" on the front page.

http://www.pentosin.net/f_antifreeze.asp

 

Drain and refill the coolant with the approved stuff and you will be fine. The first drain is 5 years or 100000 miles after that it is every 50000 miles. I use Zerex Asian premixed pink.