Coolant loss on a 5VZ

[Seanz0rz]

more likely the rubber oring on the idle air control valve. mine was seeping through there, replaced it with RTV, no problems since.

[Dice Man]

What coolant are you guys using? My Runner still has the Toy Red the dealer uses, was wondering if I can add Zerex Asian Coolant Orange or should I do a complete flush before adding the new orange?

[DHC6twinotter]

I'm just using the Toyota Red coolant in my 3rd gen.

[MTL_4runner]

What coolant are you guys using? My Runner still has the Toy Red the dealer uses, was wondering if I can add Zerex Asian Coolant Orange or should I do a complete flush before adding the new orange?

Bigtime NO!

Best coolant to use is the Toyota pink available at the dealer. It's very easy to use, has a super long life formula (5-7 years between flushes) and comes premixed so you can't get the concentration wrong (especially after flushing the cooling system). There's a large thread on here about all the different coolants and why the Toyota ones will work best for you.

[TheDurk]

What coolant are you guys using? My Runner still has the Toy Red the dealer uses, was wondering if I can add Zerex Asian Coolant Orange or should I do a complete flush before adding the new orange?

Bigtime NO!

Best coolant to use is the Toyota pink available at the dealer. It's very easy to use, has a super long life formula (5-7 years between flushes) and comes premixed so you can't get the concentration wrong (especially after flushing the cooling system). There's a large thread on here about all the different coolants and why the Toyota ones will work best for you.

Take another look at the Zerex Asian Formula. It's a chemical clone of Toyota Pink. It's a phosphated HOAT (Hybrid Organic Acid Technology) just like Toyota Pink and is also a full strength pre-mix. It's half the price and available at Amazon, NAPA and other places. It's only been available for about a year so many people aren't aware of it. It's the first aftermarket blend made to meet Toyota requirements.(I may be a newbie here but I have 1300+ posts on YT and T4R.org.)

[MTL_4runner]

Take another look at the Zerex Asian Formula. It's a chemical clone of Toyota Pink. It's a phosphated HOAT (Hybrid Organic Acid Technology) just like Toyota Pink and is also a full strength pre-mix. It's half the price and available at Amazon, NAPA and other places. It's only been available for about a year so many people aren't aware of it. It's the first aftermarket blend made to meet Toyota requirements.(I may be a newbie here but I have 1300+ posts on YT and T4R.org.)

I do agree it's alot closer than I've seen for many in the past, but there's no indication it's actually a clone for the Toyota Super Long Life Coolant (the SLL is OAT which contains no silicates unlike HOAT and the Zerex Asian formula does not seem to meet ASTM D4340 while the Toyota SLL coolant does). I don't have data sheets to compare the formulations either, but it seems (logical) that while the Zerex formula tried to satisfy everyone, it actually may not be the best choice for the vehicle. In any case, I can't see it being worth taking a chance when the cost vs change interval is as long as it is with the OEM SLL coolant. That being said you probably wouldn't do any damage, but again just too easy to do it right and forget about it IMHO.

In any case if you are switching coolants I would do a flush first then do a complete refill.

[Dice Man]

I got a price from the Yota dealer and they want $25 a gallon for the Toy Red/Pink. I don't know if that is the concentrated or mixed - maybe the Red is concentrate and the Pink is 50/50?

Our 4Runners have a 9.2 coolant capacity so I have to buy 2 gallons of Toy Red - 4qts=1 gallon or I can just buy the pre mixed and not have to worry about getting the mixture correct. Just dump in the 9.2 quarts of pre mixed blend?

Since I decided to replace the Rad - 170K miles on original Rad, I'm going to do the complete flush, it looks like the Red coolant is dirty so I need to flush it, I guess using the Red would be best. I'm also picking up a new thermostat and gasket for $27 - should I get a new Radiator cap? The new Rad is a Koyo A1998 and I guess it should work with the old cap but to be safe should I replace it?

[MTL_4runner]

Red = Concentrate => Flush every 2-3 years
Pink = Premixed => Flush every 5-6 years

Just get 2 gallons of the pink, flush, refill and be done with it.

You can replace your radiator cap, but it's probably still fine as long as it's holding pressure.