The Correct Way To Drain/Fill the 4.0 Antifreeze

I've changed all of the fluid in my truck when I bought her used, except for the coolant. I have to put this on my to do list. My truck is a 2009 Prerunner with 86k on the odo, as far as I know the coolant has never been changed.

 

Coolant goes thru the heater core when the heater is on - you have the temp set to heat. Over the years you may have seen instruction to seat to heat before draining coolant. Back in the day when you had a mechanical lever that you moved by hand, I think this had some meaning. Now with electrical controls, I'm not real sure just what kind of circulation there is once the engine is off.

To my way of thinking, if you want to flush the heater core on a newer car, you need to pull both hoses from the inlet/outlet feed at the firewall and flush both ways. I've only done this once and it was pretty for academic reasons. I buy cars new and change coolant more often than the mfg. recommends. Both radiator/block(s) are drained. I have always believed that by doing this my cooling system is never going to be contaminated. The coolant I drain never looks all that bad.

 

someone correct me if I am wrong but I believe most vehicles these days rely on blend doors to regulate temperature versus a valve on the inlet line to the heater core.

 

Did my first drain (radiator and both engine drains, reservoir tank) & fill at 88,000 miles and 5 years new. Observations/comments:

• Only drained 6 quarts total. Replaced equal amount of Toyota pink. Had expected more. Old coolant looked only slightly darker than new.
• Used the Lisle spill-free funnel. It was simple and no mess.
• For the engine drains, I took conservative approach opting to remove front wheels and spraying with penetrating lube. Both came off without a struggle. Not much coolant drained from left side of engine.
• Watched the coolant level closely for about a week adding minor amounts of additional coolant to both the radiator and reservoir tank.

 

Did this recently. As others have stated, once the passenger side has been drained, very little coolant drains out of the driver side of the block; this was my experience. With a spill free funnel and idling the car, heat on, refilling the coolant is easy. No air in the system after confirming that the level in the reservoir rose slightly after driving. All in all, I put in nearly two jugs of coolant. I also used Pentosin Pentofrost A4. It is also SLLC, pink and same formula (HOAT) as Toyota's for half the price.

 

That's correct.. The coolant flows through the heater core regardless of the temp knob being set to cold or hot, when you turn it to hot it opens the blend door.

 

Cooling system

Capacity

2.7 L 4-cylinder (2TR-FE)
engine
9.1 qt. (8.6 L, 7.6 Imp.qt.)
Vehicles with a manual transmission
9.2 qt. (8.7 L, 7.7 Imp.qt.)
Vehicles with an automatic transmission

4.0 L V6 (1GR-FE) engine
Vehicles with an automatic transmission
10.1 qt. (9.6 L, 8.4 Imp.qt.)
Vehicles with a manual transmission
10.3 qt. (9.7 L, 8.5 Imp.qt.)
Coolant type
Use either of the following.
• “Toyota Super Long Life Coolant”
• Similar high-quality ethylene glycol-based

 

So why turn heat on when changing coolant? This is old school thinking.

 

You don't have to turn the heat on when changing coolant ,unless your trying to warm yourself up after doing it.

 

like I said "old school"

 

10-4

 

Leaving 3rd drain plug on top of engine open when refilling coolant I think would help purge air out of engine when filling coolant up I think Just did my nephews timming belt on the 3.4 v6 replaced all hoses left one hose from top of intake to heater valve and filled coolant till started to spill out from hose . Hardly any air in system and was pretty much full with coolant.

 

I just did this job yesterday. I only looked at the OP comments about there being only 1 block drain valve on the passenger side. I didn't get the full amount out. I refilled with 2 gallons. After reading more of this thread I saw that there was another drain valve on the driver side. I went to see if there was one this morning and there is. It's just forward of the engine mount under the exhaust manifold. It looks pretty tight in there and I'm not sure if I could get my hand in there. I have a 2012 4.0L V6.

Something that wasn't mentioned a lot when you are changing the coolant in this thread is changing the thermostats with it. Springs weaken over time and it's just good practice to replace moving parts when performing maintenance on a system that you only touch every 4-5 years. I had 90K miles on my coolant.

 

For easier access but definitely more work + time, I removed the front wheels and fender aprons. The plastic clips securing the fender apron came off easily and with no damage using panel clip pliers This gave me plenty of room to work in there.

 

Great forum. I changed my coolant pretty easy on my 2010 Tacoma V6 with all the instructions listed here. Just a tidbit of information that may help everyone clarify an issue about there being another drain plug on top of the engine valve cover. The schematic drawing of the engine out of the service manual is meant to be transparent as if you are looking through the engine to the right rear passenger side drain valve. It does give the illusion that there is a drain valve on the driver's side valve cover when in actuality you are looking through the engine as if it were transparent or clear to the right rear (passenger side) drain valve on the engine block. In the schematic it gives the appearance it is on top of the valve cover so no worries there are only two engine block drain plugs not three.

 

Yeah, I wish OP would fix his first post...

 

Great thread, especially the pics. For my 2006 TRD, I drained my coolant (radiator and both block ports) and refilled with Valvoline 50/50 w/Zerex which is formulated for Asian vehicles. No silicates, etc. It took two gallons. Someone mentioned that the 3/8" hose used for the draining process leaked a little. I used 3 feet of clear tubing 5/16" I.D. x 7/16" O.D. that I got from Lowes and no leaks. The hose fits perfectly on all three drain ports. I used three long extensions and a universal joint to turn the 10mm drain bolts through the wheel well. No problem.

Thanks for the thread and this forum.

 

Happy Fourth of July!

I just did this today on my 2010 V6 at 52,000 miles.

• I used the Lisle Spill-Free funnel, made it pretty easy to refill.
• The driver side engine block drain was too much hassle, I skipped it.
• Used 5/16" vinyl tube on both rad and passenger side engine block petcocks.
• I tried to change the thermostat but just couldn't get to open the housing nut towards the cabin side with a ratchet or wrench, opening the other two nuts towards the radiator side were easy.
• Flushed it twice with distilled water, including
  $5 Prestone AS105 Total Cooling Syststem Cleaner for Radiator, Heater Core, and Hoses, 22 oz., 1 pack , (Packaging May vary)
  Prestone AS105 Radiator Flush and Cleaner
  
• The radiator drain gave me maybe 2-3 quarts, the passenger engine block drain gave me almost 6 quarts, for a total of about 8 quarts...meaning there was probably 2 quarts left in the driver side drain of the engine block. No matter, since I flushed it 2 times with distilled water until it ran clear.
• I filled up with Toyota Super Long Life pink.
• The original coolant was pink and looked good. The
  $4 Prestone AF-1420 Antifreeze/Coolant Tester
  Prestone AF-1420 Antifreeze / Coolant Tester showed that it was in good condition, likewise a multi-meter showed it was OK. However, the litmus test showed the coolant to be more on the acidic side. Everything looked much better with the new coolant.

Thanks to the OP and other contributors for this helpful thread!

 

Maybe it's like tomacco? If your a simpsons fan you will get it.

 

Getting ready to do mines this weekend, along with the water pump.

I was wondering, those that did the flushing. Is using a flush specific cleaner needed? Or can I use distilled water until it runs clear?

Thanks!