Coolant is low all of the sudden - Toyota Yaris Forums

bankrobber · 03-07-2012, 08:53 PM

What about using the coolant at WalMart that says it works in all newer vehicles?
Prestone brand?

UTVitz · 03-08-2012, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bankrobber

What about using the coolant at WalMart that says it works in all newer vehicles?
Prestone brand?

Don't do it. Really, coolants are not designed to be mixed like motor oils. Cross contamination could result in a plugged up cooling system. If you wanted to change off toyota pink stuff you'd need to do a complete flush of the system and them refill with whatever you choose.

nookandcrannycar · 03-17-2012, 03:24 AM

I read this thread a few days ago and was a bit concerned re my car. The exterior of of my overflow reservoir is even cloudier (much cloudier) than on gabriel2012's car AND after popping off the cap of the reservoir I couldn't see ANY of the pink 50-50 coolant/water mixture. I asked a service writer at my local Toyota dealer about this earlier today and he came out to my car and we both poked our heads around and he couldn't really tell the current level of coolant either (although our guess -- which turned out to be wrong -- was the same). I bought a container of the 50-50 mixture from the parts department and bit by bit added it to the overflow reservoir. The angle I was pouring from to minimize spilling meant that I had to pour a bit and then move to a different location to check the level. I ended up overfilling past the full line. A service writer borrowed what could best be described as 'a car version of a huge eye dropper' from a mechanic and got some of the excess out for me. He said to leave the cap off the top of the overflow reservoir, keep checking it, and when the level returned back to the fill line to put the cap back on. Later in the day (between my 2 previous posts) I pulled into a very well lit Valero station to check the coolant level. I noticed something that may have been mentioned on another thread re this subject, but not in any of the posts I read on other threads and the service writer at the Toyota dealership wasn't clued in on this either -- namely, that the overflow reservoir has it's own built in overflow mechanism/channel. Every previous overflow reservoir in a car that I remember seeing that has an overflow 'mechanism' to accommodate it has/had a HOSE as the overflow mechanism. The 2007 Yaris has a hollow CHANNEL that is part of the formed 'plastic' of the reservoir itself. The top of this channel is under the cap of the overflow reservoir and the bottom of the channel is open, allowing any overflow out to the street/ground. So, slightly overfilling the overflow reservoir past the fill line won't be an issue as any excess that pressure pushes up to the cap will be released through this overflow channel and I therefore could confidently put the cap back on the overflow reservoir.

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03-07-2012, 08:53 PM	#1
bankrobber Drives: 2007 Yaris Hatchback Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Central Florida Posts: 254	What about using the coolant at WalMart that says it works in all newer vehicles? Prestone brand?

03-17-2012, 03:24 AM	#3
nookandcrannycar Drives: 2('14+'07)MT 3d ,wHandCrWndws! Join Date: May 2009 Location: S.MontgomeryCnty,TX(HoustonMSA) '07=BayouBlue=300,125miles=OrigOwnr '14=ClassicSilvr=29,059miles Posts: 4,839	I read this thread a few days ago and was a bit concerned re my car. The exterior of of my overflow reservoir is even cloudier (much cloudier) than on gabriel2012's car AND after popping off the cap of the reservoir I couldn't see ANY of the pink 50-50 coolant/water mixture. I asked a service writer at my local Toyota dealer about this earlier today and he came out to my car and we both poked our heads around and he couldn't really tell the current level of coolant either (although our guess -- which turned out to be wrong -- was the same). I bought a container of the 50-50 mixture from the parts department and bit by bit added it to the overflow reservoir. The angle I was pouring from to minimize spilling meant that I had to pour a bit and then move to a different location to check the level. I ended up overfilling past the full line. A service writer borrowed what could best be described as 'a car version of a huge eye dropper' from a mechanic and got some of the excess out for me. He said to leave the cap off the top of the overflow reservoir, keep checking it, and when the level returned back to the fill line to put the cap back on. Later in the day (between my 2 previous posts) I pulled into a very well lit Valero station to check the coolant level. I noticed something that may have been mentioned on another thread re this subject, but not in any of the posts I read on other threads and the service writer at the Toyota dealership wasn't clued in on this either -- namely, that the overflow reservoir has it's own built in overflow mechanism/channel. Every previous overflow reservoir in a car that I remember seeing that has an overflow 'mechanism' to accommodate it has/had a HOSE as the overflow mechanism. The 2007 Yaris has a hollow CHANNEL that is part of the formed 'plastic' of the reservoir itself. The top of this channel is under the cap of the overflow reservoir and the bottom of the channel is open, allowing any overflow out to the street/ground. So, slightly overfilling the overflow reservoir past the fill line won't be an issue as any excess that pressure pushes up to the cap will be released through this overflow channel and I therefore could confidently put the cap back on the overflow reservoir.