By
elopomorph, January 8, 2010
I went to purchase coolant at the toyota dealership today. They guy got me confused by telling me there is pink and red coolant and I was not confident that he knew which one to use on my car. I believe one was long life coolant and the other was regular coolant. I have a 2004 Corolla sport. Any information guiding me on which coolant to use would be greatly appreciated.
Every time I've done coolant change or had a look at levels etc its always been green so I would go for that one. I'm in NZ so green is antifreeze and anti-boil, maybe in hotter countries its pink for only anti-boil?
If I understand it correctly, the pink coolant is already diluted with water. The red coolant is just antifreeze. It will need to be diluted to attain a 50/50 mixture of antifreeze and water in the radiator. I did a coolant replacement a year and half ago on my corolla. I used red coolant.
crypticlineage,
Was it difficult to change out your coolant? I want to do this on my corolla, however, I have never done a coolant change before. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Search this forum for coolant drain and refill DIY - there has been several discussions on this in the past. Might be able to piece enough of them together to get a good idea on how to proceed.
crypticlineage,
Was it difficult to change out your coolant? I want to do this on my corolla, however, I have never done a coolant change before. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
elpo: Sorry I didn't see your message until today. The coolant flush was done based on a procedure by fishexpo. It was fairly straightforward. I can write you detailed instructions if you want, but in short:
1. on cold engine, drain the radiator (bottom spigot).
2. Add distilled water (you will need 6-7 gallons of distilled water) from the radiator fill neck.
3. Run engine and heater at high speed until engine reaches normal temperature.
4. shut down engine, let it cool, drain again from bottom spigot.
5. Repeat 2-4 until the drain runs clear of any coolant (whatever color coolant you've in there)
6. Use red coolant to attain a 50/50 mixture of antifreeze and water in the system (Fish's article describes this)
7. Remove the coolant overflow reservoir (under battery in 8th gen), empty it, wash it and then install again.
8. Fill the overflow reservoir with 50/50 mixture of red coolant and distilled water.
Drive and keep an eye on your temperature needle for a few days to make sure it is not behaving abnormally. Also, check coolant level (ONLY when engine has been off for 3-4 hours i.e. cold). Also keep an eye on overflow reservoir level. Must be between low and high mark.
When I did all this, I took some photos, but never got around to writing instructions based on that. Perhaps I should do that. Because I am anticipating another coolant flush this summer.
How often do you guys recommend changing the coolant?
Every 2 years?
Topic List: Go to Toyota Corolla, Chevy Prizm (1998-2008)
