V6 Antifreeze/Coolant Change How-To

really not necessary for Tacos

 

I realize it's not necessary but I already have one, I just want to find out if there is any reason I cant use it on my Taco.

 

@Hiyudurin good write up! Thank you for sharing.

 

Drained and refilled mine today. I added back into my system 9.25 quarts. I also changed out the thermostat. This is the third time doing it. I have just under 366,000 miles on the truck.
Here’s a couple tips that work for me:
1) get your son, daughter or neighbor kid to connect the hose on the driver side port.
2) go ahead and let them connect it on the passenger side too.
3) when the engine is at operating temperature turn the heater on high fan and high heat. This pushes antifreeze through the heater core, and forces any air out of the system.
4) get the young person you used in the beginning, and have them either slowly raise the rpm’s to 1500-2000 and hold steady while you add more antifreeze to the radiator.
5) also burb the upper radiator hose by squeezing it.
6) let the engine slow back to idle speed, check over everything.
7) raise the rpm’s back up, but this time go up to 2200-2300. Then, ease the rpms back down.
8) do a final system check. Turn off the heat and then the engine and check again. Top off the radiator if needed, and put the cap on.
9) recheck after driving.
I used Toyota’s antifreeze and thermostat from my local dealer. Not much more than buying from auto parts store. Mainly because they give me a great discount, and have good advice on service.

 

I really thought this was going to be hard, but it was very easy with this write up.....kudos sir. This was great. The hardest part actually was finding a place to return my old antifreeze for recycling and disposal. Luckily I bought the Toyota antifreeze and they took it back. I bought this from Amazon and it really helped with the process to not make a mess.

$21 EPAuto Spill Proof Radiator Coolant Filling Funnel Kit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01I40ZQWE?ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Great addition to the write up.....it helped with the air bubbles.

 

Cool I’ll be doing this soon on my taco

 

I think I might adopt this technique instead of a complete flush.

 

Excellent write up!! Just finished mine, Took about an hour & used just under 2 gallons of the Toyota SLLC. Was able to reach both engine block drains w a 2’ breaker bar and a socket joint. Only thing was I probably should’ve bought one of the cooling system funnel kits, pretty messy bleeding the air bubbles out. Ended up just holding a 16oz coffee cup under the radiator cap to catch all the overflow.

 

Just did this today, easy to do (except putting the tubing on the drain on the driver's side) and the spill proof funnel was the key to not making a mess.

 

Sadly, Walmart no longer sells that Zerex coolant. They have a Peak brand which is more expensive.

 

Did this today on my ‘15 with 85k. Doubt it’s ever been changed. Used almost the complete 2 gallons but my overflow reservoir was at the low mark before I started.

I opted to go for the Zerex because it was supposedly cheaper, but after striking out at 2 auto stores I found it at O’Reillys for $25 and just said why not. Toyota quoted me $29 a gallon so I’ll just go that route next time.

I was able to use two small extensions and get the driver side loosened from inside the engine bay. Other than that super easy.

Video of how I accessed the drain:
https://youtube.com/shorts/Hhsx5KWqV80?feature=share

 

That's what I do, too. Once a year, with my oil changes.

 

I've got one and have used it.....makes it fast and efficient way to change out antifreeze. I did use a long pole to anchor the pickup tube in the jug of antifreeze to avoid any pickup of air in the process.

 

Great information and awesome write up and the pictures are definitely a Pluss ! Thanks to all for this !

 

Great tutorial, thanks. Hardest part was the driver side hose and plug. I had to fit the wrench in the way pavement.is.lava showed how.

Almost all of the engine block's coolant came out of my passenger side. So when I finally drained the driver side, very little came out.

 

Approximately how much coolant should be expected to drain from the block drains?

 

I'm reading the initial coolant fill is 10.1 quarts for automatic transmission (2014)

 

If you open the radiator drain and both block drains it's almost exactly 2 gallons.

 

quick question for anyone that know which is best option;

My 2010 Tacoma V4 Dbl Cab 4x4 w/ 123,000 - I am attempting to do ALL fluid maintenance, one at a time. so 1st question is;

Option #1 - Drain original Toyota Pink coolant (as superbly written in previous by Foghorn (OP), fill with new Toyota 50/50 ready to use pink coolant, Burp and call it done.

Option #2 - Drain original Toyota Pink coolant (as superbly written in previous by Foghorn (OP), FLUSH with distilled H2O, then fill with new Toyota 50/50 ready to use pink coolant, Burp and call it done.

I am inclined to just do Option #1 because my Tacoma has NEVER been exposed to other types of coolant, it's all OEM pink coolant, HOWEVER, it also has never been flushed. So I am just wondering if option #2 is necessary and would the end result be any different without flushing out the old coolant, since with just drain and fill would replace about 85% of the coolant...any thoughts?

 

If the cooling system is clean then I wouldn't worry about flushing it but if it has crud in it I would give it a good flush.
Most of the time a gallon of full strength and a gallon of distilled water is much cheaper than 2 gallons of 50/50.