Coolant replacement the easy way

I used a fuel transfer pump as a "hose" Link is in the post. 3/8 is about right.

 

I just changed coolant on my 2019. I took off the massive trd pro skid plate and just let it fly.

piece of cake once you bench press the skid plate off.

 

Drained and filled mine today, opened both block drains, maybe a quart out of drivers and half gallon out of passenger side. Total replaced just shy of 3 gallons

 

I've noticed, when using the Toyota red sauce, my coolant Guage in my dash, though, still an idiot gauge of yesteryear, shows slightly less hot than previous pink cool-juice...not much but, enough to see it's less then the half-way mark I used to see. Win-win and new high score on use of commas!!

 

This past month I considered doing a drain and fill of the coolant when I hit 50k vs 100k as well while I was doing my diffs, transmission and tc. But, when I tested it, the OEM coolant was in fantastic condition showing it between 75-80% life so I'm just leaving well enough alone and will test every 10k or so to monitor it. The coolant is just shy of 5 years old.

 

I'm almost 24K overdue for this.

 

Thanks for the tips and great photos. My 18 is about to hit 40K miles, and I’d feel better knowing it’s done. Good comments by others also.

 

Agreed. I did the coolant drain & fill on mine two days ago with 47k miles. I emptied the radiator and then the passenger-side block drain after removing the wheel there. This thread and the pictures helped a lot so it was pretty easy overall.

I purchased the No Spill Radiator Funnel Kit from Harbor Freight to help with refilling, and it made it so much less messy than just using a regular funnel. It's a little pricey at $34.99, but it is well designed and I now wish I had bought it a long time ago.

 

I’m almost 70 and disabled but did this on my 21 with 50k mileage without any issues. So if you are hesitant please know it’s simple. I did get the no spill funnel and 2 gallons of Toyota coolant all from Amazon. I also got a foot of 5/16th hose which worked perfect. I did not remove the right tire and only drained the passenger side.

 

So I curious is there a way to do a coolant flush? I know I only read of drain and fill but would like to know if a flush is possible.

 

Possible but would be very wasteful of coolant. Preston makes a flush kit for use with a garden hose. Can flush with that then drain and fill.

 

Tundra coolant drain and fill

I currently have 39.5K miles on my 2018 Tundra.

I read the above posts and watched a couple videos which inspired me to DIY coolant replacement. I used Zerex Asian Red coolant, as I have had good luck with non oem coolant in the past.

I took the cap,off the radiator, attached a 5/16 tube from the petcock drain (driver’s side) to a bucket. Opened the petcock and drained about a gallon, then put the cap back on and this drained the overflow. Once the overflow tank gets to the near bottom, about 1 inch, I took the cap off the radiator again to get the rest of the radiator drained. Closed the radiator petcock.

Drained the engine block passenger side only, as not much comes out of the driver’s side per reports. The engine block passenger drain is located in front of the engine behind the rubber shroud. Remove the rubber shroud to get access, (I left the front most clip on and moved the shroud out of the way). Attach a 5/16 inch id hose to the drain pipe to the bucket. 10 mm socket with extensions to loosen to open drain. Drain till it stops. Close drain, reattach shroud.

Fill the radiator, burp it by running the motor to open heater vent. Attach cap. Fill reservoir to fill line. Be sure to check again when cooled and after a drive cool cycle. I used about 2.6 gallons in the refill of the radiator and overflow tank.

I used a funnel kit to reduce splash (Amazon $20).

 

Added to my list of to-do. Thanks guys!

 

I recently changed the fluid on my 2020 crew max at 30K miles. With my scan gauge, I saw temps between 195-205 F range. After doing a drain in fill with Toyota coolant, I'm seeing 195-211 F range. Would this indicate that there's still air in the system?

 

Great write up, I'm a real nerd when it comes to coolant flushing as I have a longstanding hatred of coolant. Sticky crap.
Stupid question of the day, this is a 5.7 litre engine?

Someone else commented but I feel I should too. You are ruining your water pump. Coolant is a lubricant as well. This could cost
a lot more than price of antifreeze. The word coolant means water allows the engine to run hotter than without coolant. You
should be at least 50/50.

 

Not quite. Water is the best heat transfer agent you can get. The next more efficient is a molten metal salt that you can't have liquid at normal conditions, so it is limited to nuclear reactors, some of them.

From wikipedia: "Pure ethylene glycol has a specific heat capacity about one half that of water. So, while providing freeze protection and an increased boiling point, ethylene glycol lowers the specific heat capacity of water mixtures relative to pure water. A 1:1 mix by mass has a specific heat capacity of about 3140 J/(kg·°C) (0.75 BTU/(lb·°F)), three quarters that of pure water, thus requiring increased flow rates in same-system comparisons with water."

 

Water alone transfers heat better than 50/50. 50/50 is obviously better for lubrication purposes. Adding the amount of water with water wetter I did will play a negotiable role in the pumps life. More important is doing early flush to the system, which most people dont do.

 

Got a dumb question, but when the offer the coolant / radiator flush at the lube shop, are they basically doing this but with a machine to pump out the old and replace it with the new coolant?

 

Depends on the shop. Nothing stopping you from parking outside walking in and asking exactly what they do. If the price is
below what you would pay for a quality coolant alone then suspect probably not, also I'd argue that 95%+ will be using
a recycled coolant product.

 

CC Nut recommends more frequent changes to hopefully save the head gasket. But I wonder the fluid itself is the issue, or if something added to the fluid may help?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfGTI0sWozc

 

CCN is unaware of what the issue is and made a false statement. This video's been criticized here a couple of months ago.

 

I see a lot of people disliking that he dissed the 5.7, but didn't see an alternative explanation for the head gasket failures.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/car-care-nut-head-gasket-warning.147864/page-6#post-3724084

 

When I D&F'ed the Sequoia, I didn't get much out of the passenger side drain. Got way more out of the driver side drain. Ended up adding 2 gal-ish for the refill.

What'd y'all do with the old coolant? Mine is still sitting in my garage.

 

In the same thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/car-care-nut-head-gasket-warning.147864/page-2#post-3703437

It happens on the least cooled cylinder, which is already a sign that heat stress is a factor of failure. Cast iron sleeve has a different thermal expansion rate than aluminum around it. If aluminum layer is thick enough to withstand the radial pressure of expanding sleeve, the sleeve has no other place to go, but upwards. It expands into the head right through the gasket and lifts it slightly. I've seen sleeve imprints on the head in a similarly designed engine (aluminum block+head with cast iron sleeves and MLS gasket).

 

My town picks up used oil, etc once a month (unannounced, you have to know) or once a year publicly (looooong line). This is where my old oil, ATF, coolant go.

 

Well, I'm lucky they recycle here soooooo

 

We have hazardous waste disposal sites. I recycled old batteries, used oil, and coolant just the other day. The local auto parts store does used oil also.

 

My county has a half dozen recycle locations that take oil, batteries, metal, cardboard and yard waste. For antifreeze only one location takes it. I was told they distill it to purify and reuse but makes me wonder since they mix all the different colors of antifreeze in one big container.

 

Well boys and girls, I didn’t buy enough coolant. I finally got myself to get this done and managed to drain over 2.5-2.6 gallons. My driveway is slightly slanted, so to counter it, I put rear on ramps, which elevated it slightly above the front. I think this may have been contributing factor to getting well over 2 gallons of coolant out.

 

I've got about 2.6-2.7G out as well.