Long Life Pink Or Green Antifreeze - Poll

[akewlguy]

How many miles also?

[Shadow]

None of the above. Only OEM red for my cars.

[92ls forhundo]

actually thats what i meant, i just did a flush with the red toyota stuff, and the car feels great, cost me twice as much, i think thats what akewlguy meant by "pink" ,by the way. I struggled with whether to go with toyota or aftermarket and i feel that i made the correct decision.

[akewlguy]

Yeah sorry. I mean red.

Was there the red stuff back in early 90's?

[monarch]

Was there the red stuff back in early 90's?

The red was the factory fill in every Toyota & Lexus made since 1987 (1988 for some models)

[akewlguy]

So everyone recommends that we flush out the system with water (heat it up) then put the red in for long term protection. I have to get this done after a radiator flush where they put in green. The truth is green has been in the car for at least 20k or two years.

So is it better to add red later then never?

[91LS400vgb]

My own research indicates that the Red Antifreeze that came in your early 90s Lexus was no different than regular green antifreeze other than the dye. I recently completely flushed out my system and replaced it with a 50/50 mixture of Zerex G-05 (yellow/gold) antifreeze and distilled water which offers 5 year / 150k miles protection. I checked with Zerex to make sure it was okay to use first. The G-05 is oem in Mercedes and others and has a good track record of providing excellent protection for the long run. I have gotten testimonials from a mechanic who recommended it to me before I did my own research. Again that was my own choice. Having said that, I can't argue that you can't go wrong using what came with the car, but then again I have read over and over again even in this forum that the original Red was no different than the regular green stuff.

[blake918]

The previous owner of my car put green coolant in there for one reason or another. I never had any trouble with it for 120,000 miles when we flushed it out (during the tb change) and put the overpriced red, Toyota coolant in there. I'm not sure I'm up to spending what I did on the Toyota coolant again.

[VMF]

REpair manual strongly recommends using ONLY RED coolant, it doesnt have to be OEM, but it HAS to be red. it is due to the difference in chemicals that will not do your aluminium engine any good

[wandawoods]

we had an extensive discussions (green vs red) 2 years ago:

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...?showtopic=6383

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...?showtopic=6420

toyota "long-life" red coolant is OAT (organic acid technology) based, and gas-station green coolant is silicate/phosphate based. my own conclusion back then was that it really doesn't matter which one you use as long as you do a 100% flush when changing type, and you never top off coolant tank with a different type of coolant during routine maintenance. of course, you need to change out green coolant a lot more often than red coolant.

however, later on I did subscribe to the idea that why take chances, and just stick to toyota red which can never be the wrong type!

[Threadcutter]

REpair manual strongly recommends using ONLY RED coolant, it doesnt have to be OEM, but it HAS to be red. it is due to the difference in chemicals that will not do your aluminium engine any good

V:

I totally agree. I just flushed/filled with Toyota Red. I paid an "un-Godly" sum of $17.00 Cdn for a gallon. The Toyota dealer "threw in" a 2nd gallon for free. With all the stink surrounding this subject and the fact that $17.00 gets amortized over 100K miles, the decision to go with Toyota Red was a no brainer.

[Lexusfreak]

I took my ES in this past November to my Lexus dealer for a complete inspection, engine coolant flush & some extended warranty work.......I specifically requested the shop foreman to do the work (he was the gent that did all the work on my ES back when I first bought it & did an amazing job at that that is why I asked for him). I requested he use the pink 'super long life' Toyota coolant & he advised against it......and respectfully suggested I stick with the original factory red 'Toyota long life' stuff even though the dealership would have made more $$ on me.......I will not question his judgement as he is the 'Yoda' of his dealership. I would stick with what is recommended in the owners manual. ;)

I like sticking to a 2 year or 30,000 mile interval.

[akewlguy]

I plan on going with red, but I have had green in engine for 30k... I think or longer... I suspect LEXUS would have put red in up to 70k then another mechanic took over.

[Lexusfreak]

I plan on going with red, but I have had green in engine for 30k... I think or longer... I suspect LEXUS would have put red in up to 70k then another mechanic took over.

Any idea what came with the car from the factory.....red or green?

[Toysrme]

The red was the factory fill in every Toyota & Lexus made since 1987 (1988 for some models)

That is incorrect. Red was only used in all aluminum engines from 1987 on. It was not formulated to work with iron block engines, so it never came in many of them.

Toyota red claimed 5 year - 60,000 mile lifespan

Pink is claiming 10 year 100,000 miles.

Initial replacement at 100,000 miles/120 months. Replace every 50,000 miles/60 months thereafter. See Maintenance Definitions (Engine Coolant) for details.

IMHO

Toyota red is no more than 2 years in an iron engine, no more than 3 in an aluminum one, and I simply wouldn't put it in an iron block AT ALL!

Toyota pink, I would flush it @ 5 years, then talk to a bunch of mechanics after pnk had been around 10-12 years & see if they had any radiator failures coming in from the Pink coolant being in there too long.

That way, if Toyota under-shoot the new coolant like they did the old coolant, you're not gonna be left high & dry.

[monarch]

Toysrme, where did you read / hear that red Toyota Long Life Antifreeze "is not formulated to work with iron block engines". On every bottle of Toyota Red Coolant it says: "Genuine Toyota Long Life Antifreeze/Coolant is a new generation Ethylene Glycol base premium antifreeze/coolant specifically formulated for all Toyota engine cooling systems." "Helps provide outstanding protection for all vehicle cooling systems".

Case in point: In Feb. 1989 I bought a new Corolla with the iron block 4A-F motor and it came from the factory in Japan filled with the red coolant. Over the years I never flushed the cooling system or even drained the engine block - I just drained and refill the radiator every year or two with the factory original red coolant mixture (a 50/50 mix of Red Toyota Coolant and distilled water). My 1989 Corolla is now 17 years and 248,000 miles old and it's radiator core tubes and engine cooling passages are 100% free of rust and scale thanks to the Red Toyota Coolant and distilled water. This car even still has it's factory original water pump. I figure the water pump has lasted 17 years because the Toyota Coolant does not contain silicates that can abrade the water pump seal and because it also contains molybedenum lubricant.

[mburnickas]

As I have showed for a few yesrs here, color means nothing since it is a DYE. Then again Toyota coolant (red) is nothing new and there are several kinds that will work just fine.

I was the one who asked Lexus what there coolant contained (and psoted on this forum). Nothing special for my es. All you care about is low/no silicates (which have been around for like 15+ years), if it has Phos in it and that it is EG based. soem of the good ones will have the 5% OAT in it.

I would do a search on there coolants or types here since this has been talked about as many times as synthetic oil.

To close, I do not know what Toyota coolant (red) costs since I have never bought it. Alwyas used diesel coolants in all my autos since I could drive. My Es is going on 4 years. Looks brand new.

[kcpth]

just to help Mr.B. This is the email he got back from Lexus:

Lexus recommends Genuine Toyota/Lexus coolant. Here are the ingredients:

85-90% Ethylene Glycol

less than 5% Diethylene Glycol

less than 5% hydrated inorganic acids and organic acid salts

less than 5% water

must be ethylene-glycol based

Just remember akewlguy.... if u had green... n ur switching over... b sure to FLUSH the crap out of it. Just follow the tutorial @ www.lexls.com. The drain !Removed! will b a !Removed!... just letting u know that right now. Just have some pb blast ready... n i hope u have a 3/8 inner diameter viynl tubbing ready too. Speaking of which... i think lexls.com is down right now. But should b up.

I needed to get an extension too. Remember to burp the system too. If u follow lexls.com... u should b burping it too.

Good Luck

Tom