Radiator Flush...

[AjayD]

I have a 1995 ES300 with almost 112000 miles on it. I have never changed the coolent. I am thinking of doing a drain and fill this weekend. A friend of mine told me to drain all coolent and than fill car with water and run the car until the fan turns on and drain water again.

My question, will filling it water and running the car damage anything. Also when I remove the plug on the radiator will that get most of water out?

Also, what kind of coolent would you guys recomment. My friend said to just get preston brand. I am not too sure on that brand. Please advise.

[Lexusfreak]

Check the forums here to do a search......if I were you, I'd get the new coolant from Toyota called 'super long life engine coolant' it's pink in colour (two 4 litre jugs & about a gallon of distilled water).

[steviej]

just draining the radiator does not drain the coolant that is left in the engine block.

Either hook up a flush kit or have it machine flushed to get the best job done.

Any idea what the original color of the coolant was. If the original coolant was red then don't use Prestone green. Go get the Toyota Long Life (red) or new super long life (pink).

Again, this topic has been covered, asked, recovered and reasked again.

Please remeber the search function next time.

steviej

[SKperformance]

agreed filling is just a drain

buy the prestone flush kit for a couple of bucks and it comes with T's to attach a hose to reverse flush the whole system

[IlyaIlya]

can u use dexcool, since its red/or pink in color?

[mburnickas]

NO- Your coolant in your car is EG and Dexcool is WAY differant. The color is not important but what it is made of is.

[Lexusfreak]

Agreed! Stick to either Toyota coolants, & you will be fine. B)

[IlyaIlya]

EG ? thats the original lexus coolant?

[mburnickas]

For the speciifc year, yes it is EG (Ethylene Glycol)- Even my 98 is EG.

[IlyaIlya]

so how many galons would i need for basic drain/flush/fill ? 3 gals?

u know, i think all mechanics are bad, i went to my friends father, and he opened the reservoir smelled it, and said it needs to be changed, and will cost 100 bux, so i m all upset about it, cause i just got car,. In morning i open it up, and open up the coolant cap itself to see what fluid looks like there, and its red and looks clear/very nice, I dont think it should be changed for another 30k miles IMO heh, I ll change it eventually and my self,, cause no way i ll pay 100 bux for them to do it, and i m sure it would be fine for a year or more even, but i ll do it as soon as i m not lazy ;) thanx

[SKperformance]

for $5 buck you can buy a tester for coolant and it will show you the boil point and freeze pooints ,so you know if it is any good or not, it can be smelly or dirty but still be fully capable of worknig fine.

[monarch]

AjayD, if you are the original owner and you are 100% sure the coolant has never been changed then I have good news! Your cooling system is still immaculately clean thanks to the unique chemistry of the original factory fill coolant mixture which was 50% Toyota Long Life Coolant and 50% distilled water.

Since your system is still so clean, there is no need to flush anything because there is no rust or corrosion in the system. Just drain and refill the radiator with a 50/50 mix of Toyota Long Life Coolant and distilled water. This will replace about 60% of the coolant which is sufficient.

A week or two later you could drain and refill again if you want to get more of the old coolant out, but it's really nothing to worry yourself over because like I said, the old coolant will still be clean.

You can buy the Toyota Red at Toyota dealers and the distilled water at a grocery store. Mix the two 50/50 in a separate container before pouring the mix into the radiator.

Flushing Tees and all that other flushing jazz just adds layers of complication and potential for trouble and won't accomplish anything because again, the old drained coolant will still be clean despite being 9 years old.

[mburnickas]

You do not need to buy Toyota coolant. He has a 95 and can use any EG coolant, just like my 98....Wait, we had this topic before.

I used distilled water before but after testing the water since I have a salt water reef tank I will not be using that. On my next flush on my car I am using RO/DI water...the best of the best of the best... :D :D

[AjayD]

Thats awesome. I thought the red stuff was rust and it should be green. I will go to toyota and get the red stuff... Thanks for all the help. I will let you guys know how it goes.