Should i flush my 98 4runner radiator fluid or just drain and fill?

I bought mine 9 months ago and don't know if it's ever been done.

What is the mix ratio of toyota red fluid to distilled water?

 

Depending on mileage, but I bet yours is over 45K, I say instead of drain and fill you need to

 

Thanx waskywabit. Cool animation pic.

I'll get to it.

 

Red fluid? Are you talking about some flushing agent or the coolent? The toyota red fluid I know is tranny fluid and is not very effective in the radiator

 

lol...nah, Toyota sells a coolant brand of anti-freeze and it's color is red.

I know there are various colors of anti-freeze, red, green, orange (GM brand), and i think I heard of a yellow verison too.

Oh if you are adding 50/50 solution to make it, use only Distilled water!

 

Ahhh Bach! Thanks for the info

 

Question!! the distilled water, is that just recommended for toyotas or every make of vehicle and why distilled??

 

Distilled is recommended for all vehicles. It has all the trace mineral & metals removed, thus the water is completely nuetral and won't accelerate corrosion in the cooling system.

 

You hit the nail right on the head! Always use distilled water when mixing 50/50 coolant and distilled water. Toyota Red is good for your water pump too. It has a lot of lubricating properties and highly recommended for your Toyota engines. It will cost you around 12 to 16 bucks a gallon but worth the price.


Noel

 

Thanks for all the replies fellas. I meant the toyota red factory coolant.
It took exactly 1 gallon coolant and 1gallon distilled water for the radiator and reservoir. The old coolant looked really clean.

 

Sounds good, when I did mine it was a little darker than the new coolant, but was still clean. Will flush it again before we move back east or at 60k, which will be about 17k from now.

 

Is the flush something I can do, or should I take it to the shop?
How often is it recommended to do it?

 

It is something you can do with a garden hose as far as flushing. I personally take my vehicles to a shop because of disposal problems and find a place in my town to take it for free. As far as flushing, if you haven't changed your coolant in a while, then it is recommended to prevent the particulates in the coolant from binding to metal and rusting. I think coolant is every two years change. You just gotta look at your coolant every so often and look at it's condition.

 

I just used a garden hose to flush it with only water because those chemical flushes can eat up your radiator.

A true flush though involves removing your thermostat, flushing the block, core heater, etc.

The way i did it should suffice at least 80% of particulates. But if you have overheat probs. i would do the major flush.

Just my $.02

 

You can do it yourself or take it to a shop, just make sure that you use or specify the Toyota Long-Life (red) coolant.

You should do it every 12 months or 15k miles, usually about once a year. Keeping that schedule will keep your cooling system clean and efficient.

 

Thanks to all, I think I'll get mine done this weekend.