pizitz70

Hello floks. I am going to perform a full flush of the coolant system on my '01LS430 this weekend. Right now the fluid that is in it is the red colored fluid.

My quesiton is this: What is the correct type to replace it with? Do I really need to buy OEM Toyota red coolant or is the red Prestone good enough? I'm also going to do the same flush to my wife's 1999 GS300. Any advice would be appreciated.

thanks,
Brian

toantran99

I would suggest you stick with the OEM one. I have a 2004 and it's pink I think. Cost about $15 a gallon. Ibought 3 but only needed 2.

olemanGS

iTrader: (4)

I did the same drain and fill on my 2003 GS430 when I purchased it so I went lexus to purchase the antifreeze and they told me 2003 and prior they put the red colored anitfreeze and 2004 and up they use the pink....but they also said there is nothing wrong with using the pink in any of them....I will be doing the drain and fill to my 2001 LS430 next week.....most likely I will use the red.

alanchad

iTrader: (1)

ethlene glycol base as opposed to alcohol based according to owner manual.

I will also use the toyota red when I change. (why worry?)

Alan

warminwisc

What is the mileage Lexus recommends for a coolant change? Do most folks recommend a complete flush or just drain and refill. I have an 04. Thanks in advance

V8_Fan

If you mix different colors of coolant, you will probably be buying a new radiator within a year. I once replaced prestone green w/ Toyota red, flushed the system with water, but forgot to flush the heater core. Some months after that, I'd hear gurgling sounds after starting up the engine. While the shop was doing a timing chain change, they pulled the radiator and asked me what I put in there, since 60% of it was clogged and sludged up. There are numerous documented cases of radiator failure from mixing colors/brands (see ih8mud.com).

Toyotas/lexus from the 1980's-2003 use the "long life" red coolant. You need to mix it 50-50 with distilled water (don't use tap water, as it leaves deposits in the radiator). From 2004-current, Toyota/Lexus uses the "super long life" pink coolant. Toyota "long life" and "super long life" are NOT chemically compatible. If you plan to switch from red to pink, you need to flush the entire cooling system including heater core(s) with distilled water, then drain all water from the block/radiator/heater core, then add in the super long life coolant directly (pre-mixed). Personally, I like the long life red since you can adjust the concentration yourself depending on where you live. If it's very cold, you can go up to 70-30 whereas for the super long life, you have to take what Mr. T gives you.

I've debated about switching my '03's red (30K mi rating) to the super long life (60K mi rating), there's no big advantage; it's simple enough to drain the radiator and refill it with 50-50 red & distilled water every 2.5 yrs. It's not a total flush, but most dealers only do a simple drain & fill as their "flush." If you warm up the engine pretty well so the thermostat valve is open and drain the radiator, you can get about 2/3 of the coolant out the radiator (a trick a toyota tech told me) without having to drain the block. Remember, the techs are paid by the job, not by time.

formerMB

Mercedes OEM is Zerex G05, probably a perfect solution @ $12 a bottle at your local Pep Boys. What's the Lexus price?

toantran99

About $15 a gallon for the pink stuff.

pizitz70

Thanks to all that have replied so far on my questions. I decided to get genuine Toyota anti-freeze. So I went to the Tampa Lexus dealer Friday with intentions of buying Long Life Red. While standing at the parts counter, 2 mechanics were within ear shot when I was asking the attendant for the Red stuff. The mechanics spoke up and said they (at least Tampa Lexus) do not sell Long Life red anymore, only Extra Long Life Pink.

They went on to explain to me that Toyota stopped giving them (undiluted) Red and they only stock (diluted 50/50) Pink now. It was their way to give you half the product for the same price. So, you cannot purchase undiluted Toyota anti-freeze at my dealer. I paid a little over $17 per gallon and bought 4 gallons (2 for each vehicle). They said after the flush, fill with 2 gallons and just top off with water. I told them I'm doing a full flush on a '99 GS300 and an '01 LS430 and they agreed I would be fine as that is what they put in all vehicles there now days. I plan to flush out one or both cars next weekend if I can find the time.

I'll follow up with some type of completion post after both flushes. I'm going to follow the most excellent DIY outlined at lexls.com here: http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/cooling/coolant.html (it is on an older LS400 but I have diagrams on exactly where the petcocks are for my two vehicles from the service manual)

To Jim Chow-- thanks for the info of potential problems from mixing colors of anti-freeze. Even so, I feel that I shouldn’t have any issues because Im draining out Toyota fluid and replacing it with Toyota fluid (even though the new is Pink).

toantran99

Have fun, maybe you can take some pictures and make a DIY section.
See attachment.

campisi

I wouldn't put red, pink, orange, green or blue in mine. I think the Sienna-colored stuff is the best and it looks pretty too.

LS430inDE.

I'm not the artsy-fartsy type. What color is sienna?

Better yet, what brand are you referring to?

DNC

OEM only, and change it every two years. During the 1980s-1990's there were so many Mercedes owners wanting to take a short cut on coolant cost so they bought non OEM coolant. PH balance is important and different for each brand. Many of these people ended up paying large bills to have their car's heatercore replaced due to their location. I have seen some S-Class models from this era with almost entire interiors removed just to get behind the dash.
Make it a non issue and use OEM coolant and replace every two years. The OEM coolant is designed for your vehicle.

StanVanDam

I found some info that states you can replace the old red Toyota Long Life Coolant with the new pink Toyota LLC without any adverse effects.

--------------------------------
PRODUCT GENERAL INFORMATION
P0004-02

Title:
ENGINE COOLANT COLOR CHANGE

Models:
'02 ES 300, GS 430/300. IS 300, LS 430, LX 470, RX300 & SC430

March 22, 2002

A new pink colored LLC is being phased into production for all 2002 Lexus models.

The color change does not affect the maintenance procedures or intervals established for the red coolant. The new pink coolant is 100% compatible with the current red coolant and red coolant can be used to replace, top off, or mix in with the pink coolant with no adverse effects.

Applicable Vehicles
2002 model year ES 300, GS 430/300, IS 300, LS 430, LX 470, RX 300 & SC 430 vehicles.
--------------------------------

km02LS430

Hey Guys;

I own a 2003 LS430. I had the car serviced at the dealership up to about 110,000 and I now have 160,000 miles on it. I have been religious about changing the oil and air filter but I have been a little lax with the other fluids. I believe the manual talks about the coolant, the transaxle and the brake fluids. Should I be overly alarmed at this point?

Thanks