Coolant and thermostat questions

Does anyone buy straight Toyota Genuine Fluid 00272-1LLAC-01 Long Life Coolant and dilute it with water? The price is maybe $12 more ($60 vs $72) for twice the coolant compared to the pre-diluted Toyota Genuine Fluid 00272-SLLC2 Long Life Coolant. I would rather buy two gallons of straight coolant and mix what I need and have some left over than buy 3 gallons of pre-diluted. I can buy distilled water for a dollar and mix it myself.

When flushing does anyone use coolant flush additives? I wanted to test this: http://www.no-rosion.com/hyperkuhlflush.htm and see how it does. They seem to know what their talking about. I like that they mention what its safe in and why.

Does anyone replace their thermostat when they flush their coolant? I have no idea when it was done (nor if the coolant has ever been flushed) and my truck is approaching 150k now and seems like a good time to go ahead and do it. There seems to be several manufacturers of it. Beck/Arnley, Gates, Motorad and Stant. Which one should I go with? There is a $9-10 difference between the Beck/Arnley and the others. Also, will I need a gasket and seal for it?

 

your tacoma runs the pink coolant (sllc2) you cant mix it with water its already setup the way toyota wants it.
they dont want you to use the other coolant. im a tech at dealer and i would replace the coolant with the same stuff. if you just drain the radiator youll only get like 1 1/2 gallon out at most.

 

Ok, I will buy the pre-diluted stuff but whats the difference of the straight coolant mixed with distilled water? I want to flush it with water and stop when only water comes out, then add the flush additive. Is that doable? Then run it until hot and flush that out and replace with coolant. I will be using a test strips and arefractometer to check water content.

 

There is a bleed port on each bank. To drain the coolant from the water jackets. 10mm and brass. Driver side valve is towards the front of the engine, while passenger valve is towards the rear.

Both are under the headers.

 

On a water based system (which this apparently is) - using distilled as a diluent is appropriate - they (Toyota) are selling the "undiluted" version correct? The only worry is whether the dilution level is still correct for the freezing level. Keep the recommended proportions and it will work fine.

I once had a Jeep with "Quadratrac" and the fluid was $35 a quart bottle at the dealer (early Chrysler days). Asked the lubrication engineer at work what it could be - he laughed and gave me directions to make the stuff..... It was turned out to be Ashless 30 wt. motor oil and GM "Positraction" additive. Looked, felt and smelled the same too. For less than $15 total - transfer case ran smoothly another 100,000 miles.

The auto marketing people would love it if everyone was cowed every stupid recommendation they could invent.

 

URD has a 170* thermostat as well, if you want to swap that versus the 180* OEM one.

 

On a 150K mile truck and no maintenance records I would do the flush and new thermostat at least. Sorry but I couldn't tell you the difference between different brands. Can't comment on the flushing agent either. I do buy the non pre-mixed coolant as I prefer a 60(coolant)/40(water) mixture.

I starting using Prestone All Makes starting a couple years after Prestone introduced it. Dealer wanted too much for the Toyota pink. I had my 96 Taco back then. I flushed it every three years and did not use any flush agent. Never replaced the thermostat or water pump on the 96 in the 10 years I owned it.
With my 06 I do the same.

 

Pink coolant is used in the LFA. Pretty good stuff.

 

The RED full strength coolant is good for 50K miles. The PINK diluted coolant is good for 100K miles. Can't help but wonder if the PINK is nothing but diluted RED. I would not hesitate to use either as I would never run any coolant in an engine for 100K miles. I go by age; not miles. 3 yrs. is as long as I ever leave any coolant in an engine. Zerex also makes a good Asian coolant. I'm running it in 2 Toyota engines now.

Whenever I consider my upper and lower hoses to be getting old, I do what I call a cooling system tune up. The coolant, thermostat/gasket, radiator cap, radiator drain plug, Hoses(upper-lower-heater); hose clamps get changed out and the cooling system burped. I always use dealer parts for everything except the coolant and hose clamps.

Do whatever you like.