T Sport Coolant Change

[teamdirtydog]

HI all,

Just got my 2nd Toyota and been searching on here for a guide on how to change the coolant on my 2003 T Sport. I ran out of time in the end after my oil filter decided not to budge earlier. I think I found a drain plug but couldn't work out what fitting it was?

Is everyone running green coolant as thats what MR T have sold me?

Thanks

[CorollaD4D]

dont toyota use the pink coolant?

[MR LBe]

dont toyota use the pink coolant?

Yep mines pink?

[farhanali89]

lol is it pink or red mine looks pink but they also sell red. Im picking up my coolant tomorow from MR T for a top up i told them pink they said bring it down well confirm.Im sure red would be PUUURE RED right LOL?

[chris1712]

Mines green :D. They used green for a period of about 3 months in one factory I heard, then changed to pink/red. One is long life the other is ultra long life, cant remember which way round. DO NOT MIX THEM.

[CorollaD4D]

i think its supposed to be pink rather than red, God knows. only thing i do know is never mix 2 different colours together, as long as you keep the same colour all should be well.

is it a bad idea to have 100% coolant in the system? if so what is a good mix, say 60% coolant with 40% water?

[teamdirtydog]

all the toyota stuff is pre-mixed AFAIK. wish I had got red now as thats what I run in the Surf but they gave me green so ill go with that after a clear out.

Anyway - how do I drain the stuff? Any ideas short of pulling the rad hoses off?

[nrgizerbunny]

there is a drain ***** on the back of the engine, it looks like a radiator drain off point.

I think there is a drain on the bottom of the radiator but i'm not sure on that one.

[molveees]

There is a Drain on the Engine Block but its not worth the Hassle. I drained my radiator (cap is bottom of radiator passenger side) & d/connected both inlet/out hoses. gets rid of 80% of the coolant. Pink is long life & highly recommended. Another piece of advice because the Tstat is shut during drain/refill it wont completely fill up the system. take it for a round round the block til temperature reaches normal operating level then topup & topup again after couple of days. btw one 5L bottle was enough for me as some old coolant (which was also pink) remained in the system but if i remember correctly toyota recommends 6L or something like that which i think is a waste of another 5L bottle, I did it 10 months ago & have not needed a top up at all.

[ldjh1985]

Im thinking of doing a coolant change shortly, surely its worth changing the thermostat at the same time?

I remember I changed the coolant on my old mr2 a few years back 2 weeks later the thermo was stuck shut lol, new theromostat & more coolant lol

[CorollaD4D]

There is a Drain on the Engine Block but its not worth the Hassle. I drained my radiator (cap is bottom of radiator passenger side) & d/connected both inlet/out hoses. gets rid of 80% of the coolant. Pink is long life & highly recommended. Another piece of advice because the Tstat is shut during drain/refill it wont completely fill up the system. take it for a round round the block til temperature reaches normal operating level then refil & refill again after couple of days. btw one 5L bottle was enough for me as some old coolant (which was also pink) remained in the system but if i remember correctly toyota recommends 6L or something like that which i think is a waste of another 5L bottle, I did it 10 months ago & have not needed a top up at all.

So you drained it and then got the engine up to temperature without any coolant in at all? And then refilled the system. Or you filled as much new coolant as you could and then got temp up and then topped up more new coolant?

Im thinking of doing a coolant change shortly, surely its worth changing the thermostat at the same time?

I remember I changed the coolant on my old mr2 a few years back 2 weeks later the thermo was stuck shut lol, new theromostat & more coolant lol

thermostat on the corolla is reliable and shouldn't need doing the coolant change should be enough.

[msprince]

Lol dont run about in your car with no coolant in your engine. I think he means fill it as much as possible then bring it up to temp.

Another way to completly drain the system is disconnect a rad pipe then start the engine and let it run haha, bit messy but not the best way of doing it tho

[molveees]

Lol dont run about in your car with no coolant in your engine. I think he means fill it as much as possible then bring it up to temp.

Another way to completly drain the system is disconnect a rad pipe then start the engine and let it run haha, bit messy but not the best way of doing it tho

who in their right mind would drive around in a car void of coolant?

If you are doing a Tstat change at the same time then flush your cooling system with a garden hose while the TSTAT is out.

[Parts-King]

For info, all Toyota coolant is pre-mixed, just fill your radiator with it. It has a high boiling point and a low freezing point so works well at both ends of the scale, as a general rule of thumb, RED coolant was fitted in all Jap built cars, GREEN coolant was fitted in UK built cars (I think the spec is very similar) and PINK SUPER LONG LIFE coolant is fitted in all later model Toyota's regardless of where they are built. Like I say it's a general rule of thumb. The pink stuff is very much more expensive than the red but lasts much longer too. All the coolant contains corrosion inhibiters which are very important for engine and head gasket life

Kingo

[CorollaD4D]

Kingo, so that means with the pink super long life stuff you dont need to add any anti freeze or anything you just slap it in and away you go?

[Parts-King]

Kingo, so that means with the pink super long life stuff you dont need to add any anti freeze or anything you just slap it in and away you go?

Correct amundo

[farhanali89]

kingo whats the going rate for toc members on the super long life coolant the pink one. I went into toyota the other day with a massive order of interior clips and body work clips and retainers.Needed a top up of coolant but they only sell in 5l bottles and wanted 27 plus vat

[Parts-King]

Yep its expensive but when you break it down, it doesnt need changing for 100K so on a cost per year basis its cheaper than bog standard anti freeze that you have to change yearly

My only snag is I cant post it out, it has a harmful label so cant supply it mail order

Kingo

[leepulsar]

very important for engine and head gasket life?where u read that?lol