Changing Coolant Corolla

[HowAboutThis]

Hitting 100K in the Corolla and manual mentions coolant exchange. Is it as simple as my early 2000's Civic? Unscrew the petcock with pan under, let it drain, a cold beverage number of minutes later pull radiator cap, drain expansion tank if it didn't already, put petcock back in, funnel-fill with red coolant until full, idle and top up for 20-30 minutes until it stops dropping with heat on full hot, take for a fun drive to get it nice and warm, let it cool for a few hours (overnight?) and check in the morning and top up as necessary?

Dealer wants a tiny bit less than $200. Is this all they'll do? Or do they put gold in it or something? I'm thinking for $20-35 I can do it myself. I know some vehicles they recommend pulling plugs on the engine to get it out of the block and such.

Anyone have $0.02 ($0.08 with inflation now) ideas, advice, opinions?

 

[slacktide_bitog]

What year is your Corolla?

 

[Passport1]

That's about how I've always done it. If you put the nose of the car in the air, like on ramps it will assist with getting the air out. Also if the Corolla is red even better. Red cars bleed easier.

 

[HowAboutThis]

What year is your Corolla?

2017

 

[supton]

Check under the hood, mine has a sticker on it saying it needs a vacuum to properly change. I think yours might too, as it seems like it'd be a similar model.

So no, apparently not as simple as drain and refill. Makes me sad, but I get it, they have a high spot in the system. Still a pain (for someone who hasn't had to do that before).

 

[HowAboutThis]

Check under the hood, mine has a sticker on it saying it needs a vacuum to properly change. I think yours might too, as it seems like it'd be a similar model.

So no, apparently not as simple as drain and refill. Makes me sad, but I get it, they have a high spot in the system. Still a pain (for someone who hasn't had to do that before).

What year is your Corolla? Edit: Looks like you have a 2021. I think the stuff I've been reading says after 2019 they got more complicated. Maybe your 2021 is different. I don't see anything about a vacuum on any stickers. Is it under the actual hood of the car? I just have one with other random info, nothing about coolant that I saw.

 

[Highboy]

2017

The car takes the pink super long life coolant not the Toyota red.

 

[HowAboutThis]

The car takes the pink super long life coolant not the Toyota red.

I have a gallon from the dealer. Been using it to top off about a cup or two per year. I have the part number from online.

All the parts places (NAPA, Oreillys, etc.) say Asian red coolants in whatever brand are what I should buy.

Is that wrong if I go aftermarket?

 

[supton]

What year is your Corolla? Edit: Looks like you have a 2021. I think the stuff I've been reading says after 2019 they got more complicated. Maybe your 2021 is different. I don't see anything about a vacuum on any stickers. Is it under the actual hood of the car? I just have one with other random info, nothing about coolant that I saw.

Yeah there's a sticker under the hood of my car.

Ok, maybe I'm wrong, I thought Toyota was using the same engine etc--they tend to find something and then not change it for 10 plus years, lol.

 

[HowAboutThis]

Yeah there's a sticker under the hood of my car.

Ok, maybe I'm wrong, I thought Toyota was using the same engine etc--they tend to find something and then not change it for 10 plus years, lol.

If I decide to tackle it myself, I guess I'll find out soon enough

YouTube has videos and the parts match mine, visually at least, exactly. And it looks like a simple job. If not, AAA can get it to the dealer