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05-31-2019, 01:54 AM | #1 |
Drives: Yaris manufactured after 2007 Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North America
Posts: 250
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Is it critical to change coolant at 100K?
I have a Yaris Hatchback, base model that has just turned past 100K. It is almost 11 years old. I was just looking at the maintenance schedule and the schedule says the engine coolant should be changed at 10 years or 100,000 miles.
I have to take an emergency road trip of about 1300 miles round trip (all interstate driving) in a couple of days. Is it critical to change the engine coolant before I go on the road trip? Would I be taking a big chance if I did not have the coolant changed until after I get back? Thanks, R. |
05-31-2019, 02:06 AM | #2 |
Drives: Yaris 06 - 5dr hatchback Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Birmingham, UK
Posts: 390
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I actually ended up changing mine at 110,000 about 3 years ago as i was doing extremely high mileage that summer and fell behind on doing all the maintainance. I doubt 1300 miles will make much difference. You should do it when you get back.
I've done 170,000 miles now and my engine still works. I'm overdue for my second coolant change as they recommend 50,000 miles there after the first. I plan on doing it at my winter service in November. I think the coolant can start breaking down and causing corrosion if you stretch it to much. Sent from my SM-T713 using Tapatalk
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- Yaris 2006, 1.0, 5 door hatchback "Betty" - 240,000 miles UK to Nordkapp in a Yaris
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05-31-2019, 07:19 AM | #3 |
Drives: 2010 yaris 3 door hatch Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Sheboygan Falls, Wi.
Posts: 521
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You'd be ok, I'd check the water pump for seepage. That's the time I'd change the coolant.
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05-31-2019, 12:52 PM | #4 | |
Drives: '08 2zr swapped Vios M/T Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Caledonia Ont.
Posts: 2,938
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Quote:
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05-31-2019, 01:24 PM | #5 |
Drives: Yaris manufactured after 2007 Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North America
Posts: 250
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Thanks to everybody. I don't have a garage, just the parking lot of the apartment I live in. I am inclined to do this myself if it is realistic for me to do this. The cheapest I can find anybody to do it for me at a garage is about $150 (USD). And I think it would be more if it requires flushing, rather than just replacement.
Is this something I can do myself pretty easily? I was looking at some videos and they were talking about burping the system and other stuff which seemed complex. In addition, the maintenance schedule says it should be changed at 120 months (ten years) and the car is almost 11 years old. So I am thinking that maybe the age is factor in addition to the mileage of 100K. I just went out and checked the coolant (engine cold). The coolant appears pink and clear, no rust or particulates. And it is about 1 inch above the "LOW" line on the plastic overflow tank. Any other comments would be appreciated. Thanks, R. Last edited by RMcG; 05-31-2019 at 01:44 PM. Reason: To add info about coolant & age of car |
05-31-2019, 01:43 PM | #6 | |
Drives: '08 2zr swapped Vios M/T Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Caledonia Ont.
Posts: 2,938
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Quote:
Buy a large oil drain pan (or equivalent plastic container) and slide it under the front of the car where the drain petcock in on the bottom drivers side of the rad. Look for a yellow plastic knob, you can reach it from the top of the engine bay. It may be stuck but be careful because you can break it. Drain the coolant out from this pet cock (remove rad cap to speed this up and make sure coolant is not hot!). This will take 20 mins or so to fully drain, but once it stops draining close the pet cock and re fill with fresh Toyota coolant (50/50 mix) from the rad cap. Fill until it over flows. Then squeeze both the upper and low rad hoses a few times and if the coolant level drops at the rad cap, re fill until it is at the top. Keep the rad cap off and start engine. The coolant level will drop, refill it again until it is full and put rad cap back on then turn off engine. Make sure your overflow reservoir is full of coolant to at least the F line if not more. Turn the car on and go for a drive. 20 minutes in current temps should be enough to get coolant up to operating temps, go for a jaunt on the highway and back. Get back home and park the car. Check the coolant level in your overflow reservoir, it likely dropped some. Fill it back up to the F mark. Once your coolant is cool enough, remove the rad cap and if the coolant is not at the top then fill it to the top and replace the cap. Drive the car as your normally would over the next week but after every day check the overflow reservoir and refill it so it is at the "F" mark. After a week of this you no longer need to keep checking it. The yaris burps the air out of its cooling system very well by itself as the fill neck is properly situated as the highest point in the system. As it burps air itself it will pull coolant from the reservoir tank which is why you need to check it after you drain and refill the system. Your only potential issue may be needing to use pliers on the drain petcock valve to crack it open. It is easier to do from under the car but can be done from above. Just be cautious not to crack it. Warmer temps help keep the plastic more pliable. You can easily drain the overflow reservoir by removing the small diameter hose from the radiator fill neck. Once it is removed lower it in the engine bay so that is points into your drain pan. Once it is lower than the outlet on the reservoir, coolant will automatically drain from it.
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05-31-2019, 02:04 PM | #7 | |
Drives: Yaris manufactured after 2007 Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North America
Posts: 250
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Quote:
ONE QUESTION: you say re fill with fresh Toyota coolant. Does that mean I should use a special Toyota brand coolant? I added to my last post that the car is almost 11 years (131 months), whereas the maintenance schedule recommends a change at 120 months (10 years). But I checked the coolant and it appears pink and clear without particulates. And the level is about 1 inch above the "LOW" line on the plastic overflow container. So I think I am OK to wait until I get back from the trip. Any more comments will be appreciated. Thanks, R. |
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05-31-2019, 02:12 PM | #8 | |
Drives: '08 2zr swapped Vios M/T Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Caledonia Ont.
Posts: 2,938
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Quote:
I would recommend you look at getting Toyota stuff and if it is reasonably priced than stick with that. Like I said before, you will be fine to do the coolant change after your trip. I doubt the corrosion inhibitors are fully depleted. If they were, driving isn't the issue, worn out coolant will eat away at your engine block regardless of driving or sitting in a driveway. Dip your fingers in the coolant and rub them back and forth, it should feel somewhat slippery.
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06-27-2019, 04:49 PM | #9 | |
Drives: Yaris manufactured after 2007 Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North America
Posts: 250
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Quote:
I may buy this as I want to depress the freezing point more than -34 Fahrenheit, and it is also cheaper than the standard pre-diluted Toyota brand 00272-SLLC2 (I think is the correct number). Some websites like Amazon, Ebay and ToyotaPartsDeal.com sell the older undiluted coolant 00272-1LLAC-01 and some Toyota dealerships in cold parts of the US (e.g., Alaska) still stock this older undiluted (00272-1LLAC-01) coolant. These dealerships dilute the 00272-1LLAC-01 coolant 60/40 (coolant/distilled water) to get a freezing point of minus 56 Fahrenheit. QUESTION: Does anybody have any opinion about whether the (apparently newer) Reochem would be better than the (apparently older) Toyota brand 00272-1LLAC-01 ? They are both undiluted and are about the same price. Thanks, R. Last edited by RMcG; 06-27-2019 at 05:17 PM. Reason: Add info, remove typos |
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07-16-2019, 03:36 AM | #10 | |
Drives: 2007 Yaris Sedan Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Boston
Posts: 4
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Quote:
with distilled water. I will buy two gallons to flush or more until it comes out clear. Once it is clear how do you know how much of the concentrate to add with the clean distilled water already inside? Manual says 5 Quarts for Auto. I don't know if everything comes out in the flush so do you have to wing it a little when adding the rest? Since it is hot here now would it be ok to have a little more distilled water inside radiator or reservoir? I don't want to damage the coolant system or engine since this is my first time doing this. Also worried about the left over air pockets damaging system after. Thanks |
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07-16-2019, 12:02 PM | #11 | |
Drives: '08 2zr swapped Vios M/T Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Caledonia Ont.
Posts: 2,938
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Quote:
And that is also why I said you can just simply drain and re fill as you likely will not have any benefit of a flush. If you are set on flushing it, then just run water through it until it comes out clear. Then start adding the coolant that you premixed in other jugs until the rad is full. Over fill the overflow reservoir a bit as well. Squeeze the rad hoses a bit and you will see the coolant level drop a bit in the radiator. I typically jam a funnel in the radiator fill hole and over fill the funnel and then turn the car on, you will see the level drop a bit and then start to rise as it warms up. Once the car is off it cools and starts dropping. Go back after 30 mins and remove the funnel and top up the rad. Drive your car will an over filled overflow reservoir and check it every day as it will drop as air ir burped out of the system. This will stop after a couple days. In my experience with various Yaris', they bleed air from the cooling system really well, just make sure the front end is jacked up so the rad cap is the highest point of the engine. Once this is done you need to buy a tester to make sure the freezing point is well below anything that you will see in your climate. You will have more than enough coolant in there for the summer, but potentially not enough for the winter, depending on your climate. Most of the coolant is removed when you drain the rad, but a slight amount will still be left in there. FWIW many people say you need the fan to turn on to open the thermostat - this is wrong and a waste of time. The T-stat opens at 180F, well before the fan kicks on (typically 204F). Also the Tstat is not an all or nothing mechanism, it will slowly open just prior to 180F and fully open around 180F. I have successfully bled cooling systems in ambient temps way to cold to get the fans to turn on. I just finished draining and re filling my Subie Outback and when the fans actually kicked on the coolant level didn't even drop - this is because the Tstat was already wide open well before the fans kick on.
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07-16-2019, 11:16 PM | #12 | |
Drives: Yaris manufactured after 2007 Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North America
Posts: 250
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Quote:
I am still kind of undecided whether to just simply drain and re fill or to flush. A flush will mean extra time and effort. How much extra time and effort is involved in the flush? I talked to one mechanic at a Toyota dealership and he said they do not do a flush unless it has been a very long time since the coolant was changed, the change is long overdue and there is evidence the coolant has begun to degrade: e.g., coolant no longer "clear," but has particulate matter present in the coolant, etc. It seems, however, that there would be some degradation of the old coolant that remains after drainage (because some old coolant remains in the system after drainage), even if you cannot see the degradation (e.g., particulate matter, etc). QUESTION(S): Does anybody have any objective evidence a flush will be of benefit or no benefit? Does anybody have a lot of experience with this question? Thanks, R. Last edited by RMcG; 07-16-2019 at 11:32 PM. Reason: add info, corrections |
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05-31-2019, 03:12 PM | #13 |
Drives: 2010 Yaris LB Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 30
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It wouldn't hurt to run a few gallons of distilled water through the system (following the same drain-fill-drive-drain procedure) before filling it with the new coolant.
I'm neither an expert nor a perfectionist, but I just used the Toyota-labeled Prestone stuff from the auto parts store. A mini-tip: I found that only unscrewing the radiator drain plug part of the way prevented it from spraying all over the plastic under-engine guard (where it will collect and sit). A word of encouragement for anyone considering doing this for the first time: changing my coolant following tmontague's instructions in another post was the first real job I ever did on any car ("real job" = something I would have normally paid someone else to do), and it really helped me to get over my fear of DIY maintenance. |
06-25-2019, 02:45 PM | #14 | |
Drives: Yaris manufactured after 2007 Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North America
Posts: 250
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Quote:
So I am thinking that replacing the old coolant with distilled water and running the engine for a few minutes and then draining again (as suggested by johnwk in the quote), would get more of the old coolant out of the system before it degrades. QUESTION: Does anybody have any comments or suggestions about this? Thank you, R. Last edited by RMcG; 06-25-2019 at 03:15 PM. |
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07-15-2019, 06:16 PM | #15 | |
Drives: Yaris manufactured after 2007 Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North America
Posts: 250
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Quote:
(I know that there is the potential problem of diluting the coolant, since you cannot get all the distilled water rinse out of the system before you add the new coolant.) Thanks, R. |
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07-15-2019, 09:31 PM | #16 | ||
Drives: 2010 Yaris LB Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 30
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Quote:
Quote:
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07-16-2019, 02:43 AM | #17 |
Drives: Yaris manufactured after 2007 Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: North America
Posts: 250
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07-16-2019, 11:27 AM | #18 |
Drives: 2010 Yaris LB Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 30
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Having the heat on will make the water flow through the heater core, further rinsing out the old coolant. If the system is properly filled, the heat will stay hot through your ride. If it cools off, there's unwanted air in the system.
PS. In my experience, it takes quite a lot of "burping" the upper and lower hoses to get all the air out while filling the system. Squeeze them each slowly and repeatedly until you don't see any more bubbles at the radiator neck. And over the next week or two, double-check the levels at the radiator neck and the overflow tank. If there was air in the system that escaped, you'll need to top off the coolant. |
Tags |
change, coolant, engine |
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