sharrack

Hey Guys,
I was in my local stealer today to pick up a new rad cap........25.00 + tax!
I squabbled with him and he lowered the price to 20 bucks! CRazy !!
Anyone experience this ?? I'll be adding that to my new aftermarket radiator.

So, I mention the strawberry milkshake issue as well as the faulty freeze out plug issue and he said he'd never heard of either but said it sounded logical
especially if you do not use Toyota Antifreeze.
He said standard antifreeze is known to breakdown components of Toyota
coolant systems. Something regarding lack of , or presence of silicates.

Any truth to this or bunk because I've never heard this before on this forum which surprises me.

Kenny S>

BigBallsMcFalls

on the silicates, maybe
--

but I guarantee you. I am the first and only owner of a 1999 4runner limited, and I always had the major service done on time and at the dealer. I am on my third timing belt change, and when they do that, they replace all coolant with toyota RED.

it did not matter. my 4runner tranny cooler blew up inside my radiator and milkshaked me.

your dealer is just not familiar with what old 3rd gen 4runners with automatics are doing and blowing the radiator...it has ZERO to do with coolant type and everything to do with age.

bottom line, if your toyo radiator is ten years old ...no matter what.. replace it if you have an automatic tranny before things go to hell,
because they will, no matter what coolant and service you have done to the cooling system. stuff just rots anyway.



radiator cap is a radiator cap. get a stant from autobone and replace it for 11 bucks. .9 ATM or 13lb is what you need.

in fact, if you continue to use the original 4runner rad cap, and have a milkshake problem and fix the milkshake,
the seals in the toyota radiator cap will swell up (due to previously contacting ATF fluid) and in a few months will
prevent the pressure relief and overflow from working, and you may blow up a hose or blow a gasket from over-pressure,
or the cap will blow off. I checked my cap and the seals were comically oversized and i said WTF ??? and researched it some more
and found that rubber seals (depending on the type and what they are exposed to) can in fact grow larger in all dimensions.
under a radiator cap this is bad mojo...Nissan has similar issues and they recalled a load of radiator caps a few years ago.

J2F42C

If it is the original cap, replace it at the same time as the radiator. At the stealership here, I'd say $30+ gets ya out the door with one.

I'd go OEM. Getting a Stant that lasts more than a year can be a crapshoot these days. I have found that OEM part prices have increased 10-70% since the beginning of this year. Inflation? More like recouping the costs due to unfavorable court judgements this year.

I think Fog and others have commented that using the red coolant is favorable due to the internal metal parts makeup of the engine. Use the search engine...

sharrack

Funny thing........I went to autozone to pick up their version of my rad cap for 8 bucks.............What garbage!
I immediately returned it after coming to my senses especially after hearing about intermittent boiling over from a bad cap.

New rad going in next week.

Kenny s>

sharrack

Funny again...... I've got 160,000 on my timing belt and it shows no signs of cracking.
Kenny s

pendrag

Geeze, $25 plus tax is nearly 1/5 of what a brand new KOYO radiator would cost ($135). I love my yota, but I hate the dealership's prices.

Ron Helmuth

replace the radiator and avoid all risk of the milkshake for a good 8-10 years. I am telling all my auto tranny 3rd gen friends to do the same. You going to risk a pricey transmission for a $150-ish radiator change out? KOYO A1998 bolts right up. Very simple job.

sharrack

The service guy at the dealer mentioned silicates present in aftermarket antifreeze which corrodes the coolant system.
I' ll spring for the 26.00 gallon of antifreeze to hopefully neutralize my corroding
freeze out plugs One started leaking 6 month ago so I gave it the stop leak fix.........good so far but the red Toyota antifreeze might be a good 26.00
insurance policy especially since this runner will be with me until it 's dead!
That combined with my new rad cap and koyo should do me well.
Kenny S>

sharrack

On last thing.............the service manager mentioned that the coolant is a
concentrate and DISTILLED water needs to be added.

Kenny S>

wii_tarded

If this is a hijack, I'm sorry. I am just about done putting a 3.4 into my '91, manual, is this milkshake a concern for auto owners only, or anyone with that engine?