ecalica428

just asking step by step guide in changing coolant. tried to change coolant by but gets about 2 liters of coolant..turned on 2 valves but just drip that amount..any other valves to open? or suggestion?

V8_Fan

There are 3 drain points, the radiator, then one drain **** for each bank of the V8. To change the coolant effectively, you need to drain the radiator and at least one bank (on my LX, I couldn't access the right side drain since an ATF line covered it, but the left side one was easy, next to the rear-most engine mount near the rear of the oil drain pan). Drain the radiator and at least one side of the block. This gave me ~11 qts on the LX (total capacity is about 16 qts). Then tighten drain bolts, fill radiator w/ STEAM DISTILLED (no reverse osmosis) water, run the engine WITH FRONT AND REAR HEATERS CRANKED! You gotta get the old coolant out of the heater cores. If you run the engine at 2000 rpm idle, it warms up faster. Now repeat the process (drain & add distilled water) until what you drain is pretty clear. Make sure you measure how much you are draining vs. the total capacity of the system so you know how much coolant to add to get the proper mixture. Now just pour the proper amount of Toyota red long life coolant into the radiator to give a 50%-60% mixture (or whatever you require; there's a table on the back), then top off w/ distilled water. Change the coolant in the bottle, too. My tech at the local "award-winning" toyota dealer said they normallly just drain & fill the radiator rather than the radiator+block, so it just comes to show the dealers take short cuts to save time. Only way to know it's done 100% correct is to do it yourself.

PS: if you are doing a 90K mi service, you might consider trying to obtain the Toyota super long life coolant. This stuff is premixed...just dump it in. This means you need to completely drain the cooling system, though (ie, need to drain both left & right side banks + radiator). It lasts longer, like 60-90k mi vs. 30K mi. It costs twice as much. OTOH, if you are at 60K mi, it doesn't pay, since you'll have to drain the radiator/block again when the timing belt is done at 90K, so that extra money is wasted. I used Toyota long-life (30K mi) when I did my 60K service in Jan, will use SLL next time when the t-belt is done.

Another thing: if this is the first coolant change for your vehicle, you don't have to be as fastidious about flushing w/ distilled water. I'd be confident of just draining one V-bank + radiator. THe reason I had to flush mine so many times was the dealer serviced the vehicle before (CPO), and the dealer uses TAP WATER...BAD, BAD, BAD. The minerals (esp here in the desert) leave deposits in the system. Avoid those aftermarket coolants (like prestone) at any costs, and avoid mixing aftermarket w/ Toyota coolant (esp red with green).

ecalica428

thank you for the reply. can you decribe the 3rd valve as i see only 2 draincocks so far..

ecalica428

able to drain and fill coolant and took me some time though spc refill and drain with distilled water. i thought its a special distiled water but a guy from kragen just told me to buy from a supermarket instead..for a while i asked him if he is sure about it then it made sense...distilled water is distilled water no matter where you buy it..

i thought my friend opened 2 valves but he just drain the one at the bottom of the radiator...at least Jim Chow mentioned the 2 drain on both sides of the engine..i have to guess though where it was ..and took my chances to turn it using 10mm socket wrench and alas ...coolant coming out from it..but i only able to get nearly 2 gallons as i think you have to drain all plugs..