New coolant questions

Changed my coolant out - it looked HORRIBLE before. (and the reservoir appeared to have something resembling swamp water in it lol) On top of that Toyota vehicles are only supposed to have red/pink coolant afaik, not orange.

BEFORE:


I emptied, flushed, and refilled the whole system with water four times until what came out was semi-transparent before emptying again and adding coolant.



I will say this has been the easiest vehicle BY FAR to do a coolant flush on. No rocking the car, squeezing the coolant hoses, didn’t even break out my vacuum filler for the final pour. I did pick up a fancy coolant funnel and adapter set -

$25 OEMTOOLS No-Spill Coolant Funnel Kit, 15 Piece Fluid and Oil Funnel Set, Allows Access To Hard-To-Reach Radiators

worth the $20 for sure.

My question is this - should I have replaced my thermostat while I was in there or do yall wait till it’s a problem? I know it was done at some point because my timing belt was changed a few years ago by the previous owner and I don’t think that service can be done without changing the water pump/thermostat/coolant hose flange gaskets?

Also, what do yall run for service interval on coolant? I know running the wrong/old coolant is notorious for ruining the head gaskets on these trucks.

 

A thermostat is not included in timing belt kits, so I wouldn't assume it's been done. It can be done quite easily with a lot less removal than a timing belt. There are a couple good videos of that job. Think I paid $30 or so for the T-stat and gasket.

From my recent experience with my new truck, someone added green coolant to the system after a radiator install, but an older invoice had line items for Toyota Red coolant. Red + Green = Orange. Sure enough when I drained my system it was orange. Mixing is bad, but it's not the end of the world, given that it's discovered and addressed. Hopefully nobody put GM dex cool in there. But since you've addressed it you should be in good shape.

Toyota's pink "Long Life" coolant is rated for 120K miles I believe, but I wouldn't push it that long, probably 60K miles, but that's up to you. I know a lot of very old cars riding around with original coolant. At a minimum on our trucks you're probably going to want to change it every Timing belt job, so 90-100k

 

A thermostat is typically replaced when you do the water pump along with the timing belt. You have to ask for it though. If you don’t do the water pump, you should change it during a coolant change at the same frequency of the timing belt.

Will it go longer, sure. It’s all about preventative maintenance though and not leaving you stranded on the side of the road.

Coolant changes are suggested at either 30k or 60k maintenance intervals. I’d have to check the Toyota general maintenance guide.