I need to hear you opinions on a couple of items. I plan on changing my radiator coolant this weekend in my Lexus. It's doesn't have Toyota Red in it now, actually some yellow/gold fluid, so I plan to change it to a OEM equivalent. Toyota Red is $30/gallon here. I plan on using either Zerex Asian premix or Peak Global full strength since they both work with Asian cars and cheaper. Ok now on to my questions...
My car has a total capacity of 8.1qts. I plan on doing multiple drain/fills with heater blasting (thinking 3 should do it) with distilled water until the fluid comes out clear. I know I have drain plugs on the engine, but I don't feel like dealing with them because they are hard to get to. Once clear and everything is sealed up, instead of pouring 1 full gallon of coolant and 1 gallon of distilled water for the 50/50 mix, why can't I just use two Zerex Asian gallon coolant? That will be approximately the same as the first option right? Even if I go with full strength, I'm going to need two gallons of full strength for the mixing process so costs should all equal the same. After looking at the MSDS of Zerex, the coolant percentage is between 45-50% and of course the rest is distilled water. My thought process is that I can just add two gallons of Zerex and it should equate to the first option of using full strength and gallon of distilled water.
What do you all think? Oh, I've never done a coolant change out before so if you have any helpful tips, please let me know. Below are the steps I plan on doing. If you see anything missing, let me know.
1. Drive car on incline ramps and locate drain butterfly on bottom of radiator and unscrew until fluid pours out of drain tube.
2. Tighten drain cap and fill radiator with 1 gallon of water.
3. Tighten radiator cap and let car run for 4-5 minutes with heater on high to release fluid in heater core.
4. Let fluid cool and drain from radiator. I plan on doing steps 1-4 multiple drain/fills until fluid comes out clear.
5. After fluid is clear, tighten radiator drain bolt and pour in two gallons of the Zerex Asian premix fluid to give me the 50/50 ratio for system capacity.
6. Leave radiator cap off and let car run with heater high and monitor water level in radiator. System will "burp" itself so level might drop a little. Step in car and raise rpm to help with burp. If level drops, add to radiator. (how long should I let car run in this step)
7. Once level is steady, put cap on radiator and I'm done.
Are my steps above ok? When do I add fluid to coolant reservoir? Will fluid automatically transfer there once radiator is full?
Sorry for long post, but knowledge is useful. The dealer wanted to charge me $200 for this job.
My car has a total capacity of 8.1qts. I plan on doing multiple drain/fills with heater blasting (thinking 3 should do it) with distilled water until the fluid comes out clear. I know I have drain plugs on the engine, but I don't feel like dealing with them because they are hard to get to. Once clear and everything is sealed up, instead of pouring 1 full gallon of coolant and 1 gallon of distilled water for the 50/50 mix, why can't I just use two Zerex Asian gallon coolant? That will be approximately the same as the first option right? Even if I go with full strength, I'm going to need two gallons of full strength for the mixing process so costs should all equal the same. After looking at the MSDS of Zerex, the coolant percentage is between 45-50% and of course the rest is distilled water. My thought process is that I can just add two gallons of Zerex and it should equate to the first option of using full strength and gallon of distilled water.
What do you all think? Oh, I've never done a coolant change out before so if you have any helpful tips, please let me know. Below are the steps I plan on doing. If you see anything missing, let me know.
1. Drive car on incline ramps and locate drain butterfly on bottom of radiator and unscrew until fluid pours out of drain tube.
2. Tighten drain cap and fill radiator with 1 gallon of water.
3. Tighten radiator cap and let car run for 4-5 minutes with heater on high to release fluid in heater core.
4. Let fluid cool and drain from radiator. I plan on doing steps 1-4 multiple drain/fills until fluid comes out clear.
5. After fluid is clear, tighten radiator drain bolt and pour in two gallons of the Zerex Asian premix fluid to give me the 50/50 ratio for system capacity.
6. Leave radiator cap off and let car run with heater high and monitor water level in radiator. System will "burp" itself so level might drop a little. Step in car and raise rpm to help with burp. If level drops, add to radiator. (how long should I let car run in this step)
7. Once level is steady, put cap on radiator and I'm done.
Are my steps above ok? When do I add fluid to coolant reservoir? Will fluid automatically transfer there once radiator is full?
Sorry for long post, but knowledge is useful. The dealer wanted to charge me $200 for this job.
