Don't like the adverts?  Click here to remove them

Engine coolant

Chris

Super Moderator
Supporter
Joined
Feb 24, 2010
Messages
17,937
Garage
Country Flag
great_britain
A basic question. Is Toyota (over priced) red coolant essential in my 80? Or is any shop bought ethylene glycol based anti freeze sufficient for a drain and refill. And can I mix the two as I have 5 lits already. Lots of posts on the net about red but none said it was essential.

That it.

Simples.
 
And once you get a trade discount from your Toyota dealer its not as painful to buy.
 
Battered and Blue said:
Or is any shop bought ethylene glycol based anti freeze sufficient for a drain and refill
Sufficient = probably... Is probably good enough for you? I suspect not :twisted:
I think the Toy red stuff offers a little bit more peace of mind. What shape is the rad in, from what you can see? If you're planning on replacing or refurbing the rad and the generic coolant is a stop-gap measure, then probably not a problem. But if this is a long-term plan, then I would give the 16yr-old rad every assistance and stick with OEM.

I don't know what's so magical about the red stuff but I know I'd be kicking myself if I put in generic and something went wrong - too much potential damage and the temp guage is not the most sensitive, so it's not going to be a good warning of anything going wrong.
My 2c!
 
It just has dirty water in at the moment. Is the thermostat easy to get at on these? Just off to Milners.

Chris
 
Well in that case any ethylene glycol mix will be better! If you're basically going to be doing a flush, no point in wasting expensive red stuff for that.

Re the thermostat, I haven't taken mine off yet but it looks straight-forward on mine, no reason to think the 12V would be much different.
Drain the coolant, undo the 2 bolts holding the inlet hose onto block and the thermostat will be sitting in front of you. Don't think any special tools or techniques needed to remove it from the hose/head :twisted:

EDIT: Just looked it up on the FSM (RM437E for HD-FT) and it's page EG-184. Says there that there are 3 bolts to undo - the 3rd one secures the hose onto the body.

Just a general, maybe useless, comment - the 4.2 seem to be over-cooled, i.e. the rad easily copes with the cooling load. There are stories of lots of guys running all winter with the rad blind down, which blocks most of the airflow into the rad so it just the fan trying to circulate air within the engine bay, and no problems guage normal. I know Ian's green truck actually gets cold at idle - after driving around at normal temp, the guage starts to drop as idle. Maybe his thermostat is stuck open but you get the point that overheating isn't a major threat unless something is seriously wrong (blockage or coolant all leaks out). Coming from a KZ-TE I think you'll be on top of any cooling issues anyway :mrgreen:

Cheers,
 
Don't like the adverts?  Click here to remove them
Andrew Prince said:
Re the thermostat, I haven't taken mine off yet but it looks straight-forward on mine, no reason to think the 12V would be much different.
Drain the coolant, undo the 2 bolts holding the inlet hose onto block and the thermostat will be sitting in front of you. Don't think any special tools or techniques needed to remove it from the hose :twisted:
Cheers,

Just remember the gasket is almost guaranteed to be mullered ;)
 
10l with discount - £34.00!

I am still not convinced that Halford EG coolant isn't fine. But I have done the 'right' thing. Going to put a flush through as well.

Lots to do. Must get on, In the rain.

C
 
Chris said:
10l with discount - £34.00!
You sure they were giving you discount? I was paying the same without discount :?
 
Yes mate. The new pink forever stuff was £25 for 5 lts!!

I\ll check the invoice again, but I got 2 cans and it was 34 quid.

Still, new stat in, rad flushed twice and refilled with red. Diff checked, rear diff breather blocked solid. Real gasp when I took the filler out.
New alternator belts on, alternator tensioner repaired. Head had sheared off the bolt and been left. New near side battery on and all smartened up.

Kept me pretty busy. Plenty to do tomorrow including picking up new bits from Karl.

Chris
 
Back
Top