Capacity Question

When I did mine (2002) got a little more than a gallon (almost a gallon and a half), like K-Watson mentioned, from just a drain. When you drained it, did you make sure to remove the radiator cap? That way you won't run into a slow draining scenario - even then, from the radiator petcock, it drains pretty slowly.

For the 8th gen Corolla - total coolant capacity is 6.0 quarts for automatic transaxles, and 6.1 quarts for manual transaxles.

Yes, I did remove the radiator cap before I started the draining. Here's my procedure perhaps you can let me know if I'm doing something wrong.

Drove my car up on one those rhino ramps.

Removed the radiator cap

Removed the radiator petcock

Installed the r-petcock when completely drain

Poured pre-diluted coolant into the radiator and reservoir tank

Started the engine to bleed the air and then filled coolant as necessary

Installed the radiator cap

BTW just to make sure. When you drained 1.5 gallon, does that include draining the coolant from the engine block?

Driving it up on the ramps might have had something to do with it. When I drained the coolant, I did it on level ground. All the coolant was drained from the petcock on the radiator, didn't even touch the block drain - it just took a while.

Here's an update. This time I drained the coolant while my car was parked on the level ground. I measured the drained coolant and it was around 1.7 quart. I poured new coolant and the radiator also accepted around 1.7 quart.

I’m still trying to figure how come my radiator is not draining 1.5 gallon. I’m certain my radiator, engine block and reservoir tank are not leaking coolant.

BTW, two days ago and today when I drained the old coolant, the old fluids were fresh and clean.

fyi:

I'm the original owner of my car, change my coolant every 30K miles and the radiator is original. My corolla has 90,461 miles.

Did you always get about a quart and a half on the other drains as well? Something is definitely not letting the coolant drain out. Which coolant have you been using on these drains and refills every 30K miles?

According to my corolla manual, the coolant that I use must contains ethylene-glycol (i.e. Toyota Long Life coolant or equivalent). I had been using Havoline Long Life coolant with EG.

In the past when I changed the coolant, I didn’t measure the drained coolant but I don’t think I get 1.5 gallon drained coolant. But I remember when I drained the coolant at 30K, 60K and 90K, the fluids were fresh and clear. Also when my engine is running at a hot temperature, the engine coolant temperature gauge on the instrument panel is somewhere below the middle level.

A possible ouchie here. Havoline Long Life coolant - does it say Dex-Cool anywhere on the bottle? I'm hoping no, if it does say Dex-Cool - might be in for some trouble.

True, most coolants on the market are EG based and have some sort of additive package. The problems comes in with the makeup of that additive package. Both Toyota Red (premixed one is Pink) and the Havoline Long Life coolant - uses OAT package to help ensure long life and are silicate free. Here's the difference, Toyota coolants have a heavy dose of phosphate to work as a "buffering" agent in the coolant (not sure if this applies to Red coolant). Havoline/Dex-Cool is phosphate free. What the phosphate does is keep the coolant from eating the aluminum in the radiator. The part is the OAT packages. OAT are supposed to take care of that (they are aluminum safe) - but even with the OAT package, it is different between the two. Toyota uses a Hybrid OAT package - sebacate base, Havoline Long Life Coolant/Dex-Cool/Texaco/etc. use a conventional OAT - 2-ethylhexanoic acid base.

Dex-Cool is OEM on most GM vehicles build after 1996 - most have had some "weird" issues pop up if the coolant wasn't introduced the correct way. Most shops say that before switching to Dex-Cool or similar coolants (assuming Dex-Cool is not the OEM mix for the target car) - you have to flush atleast 90% of the old coolant out of the system and distilled water is highly recommended for use. There are some horror stories of people mixing green with Dex-Cool - the take home message is not to mix them. Introducing tap water can also cause some headaches. The additive package can cause the minerals to precipitate out of solution - this means crystal clear coolant, but heavy deposits all over the cooling system.

I'd pop the radiator cap off and take a look at the fins inside the radiator. There should be no film or deposits anywhere in there. Flush the system with distilled water until the drain water runs clear. Probably a good idea to pop the thermostat off and take a peek in there as well - helps with the flushing process.

Doesn't mean you cannot run Havoline in a Toyota - just have to make sure that all the preparations were followed out carefully - to avoid any compatibility issues.