Toyota Red and compatability

JHZR2

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My brother just bought a 1996 Land Cruiser… actually the Lexus variant. Just happened upon one nearby and the seller took his offer.

179k miles iirc. Not intended as a DD. More if a “fun” vehicle with minor off-roading primarily at large construction jobsites.

So of course the first thing is to baseline fluids, and address any repairs needed. It seems pretty solid, but we will see.

The one thing Im not sure about is coolant. I looked in the radiator, it’s not Toyota red. I’m thinking we should take it over to that.

If it were mine I’d put JD Cool Gard II in it, but in the long run I don’t know who will service it, so I want to get it to a fluid that can be consistently applied.

There is some non-red/pink fluid in it now. I’d suspect it’s plain pristone AMAM or something like that.

If we want to take it over to Toyota red, I have questions:

- does Toyota red have any compatibility issues?
- any concerns with going to Napa or Zerex red vs. Toyota OEM?
- I don’t want a red fluid that has some generic chemistry, besides Toyota, which red coolants are ok?

Thanks!
 
Haven't seen compatibility issues with Red.
I would definitely consider any aftermarket red/pink toyota coolant.... Rechochem/OEM/Peak/Zerex/Valvoline/Pentosin...

I myself wouldn't even bother with Toyota's 2 year 24k-30k RED coolant.

Can also consider the Global or 10x coolant from Peak since color isn't important.

If stuck on using a short life coolant like OE Toyota RED, consider adding an ounce of either per quart:

If you see any buildup in the radiator, or silicate fall out in the overflow/recovery bottle, from unknown coolants used in the past, consider adding RMI25 to clean it up prior to the switchover to fancy colored coolant:
https://www.rmi25.com/product
 
Flush it out with DI water, then refill with Toyota Red and DI Water to your weather region. The reason i say Toyota red is alot of times the cost delta is nill.

Never mix and match or expect jelly in the coolant system.
 
Flush it out with DI water, then refill with Toyota Red and DI Water to your weather region. The reason i say Toyota red is alot of times the cost delta is nill.

Never mix and match or expect jelly in the coolant system.
Yeah, I thought toyota red may make jelly when mixed...

Ive avoided that in my dex cool vehicle... And wouldnt want to create it here.
 
Yeah, I thought toyota red may make jelly when mixed...

Ive avoided that in my dex cool vehicle... And wouldnt want to create it here.
I have a bit of Toyota Pink mixed with Prestone Cor-Guard in two Toyotas - no issues yet.

The funny part is Toyota Red uses benzoate and phosphate - so does Zerex Asian and what I assume CCI Illinois GC coolant. Pink is sebacate, Dex-Cool/Cor-Guard stacks 2-EHA on top of sebacate(sodium/potassium neodeconate).
 
I have a bit of Toyota Pink mixed with Prestone Cor-Guard in two Toyotas - no issues yet.

The funny part is Toyota Red uses benzoate and phosphate - so does Zerex Asian and what I assume CCI Illinois GC coolant. Pink is sebacate, Dex-Cool/Cor-Guard stacks 2-EHA on top of sebacate(sodium/potassium neodeconate).
Does Preston’s cor guard have silicates? They’re what jelly up, iirc.
 
Does Preston’s cor guard have silicates? They’re what jelly up, iirc.
Prestone has been AMAM for the last 15+ years. They still make a silicated green as their Prime series.

Also, as someone else posted here the Europeans have been using SiHOAT for decades, so has Tesla. Ford was using G-05 but there’s a link between EGR cooler issues and silicate gelling on the 6.0/6.4 PSDs and they switched to Dex-Cool or Mazda green before going all in on Cor-Guard.
 
Prestone has been AMAM for the last 15+ years. They still make a silicated green as their Prime series.

Also, as someone else posted here the Europeans have been using SiHOAT for decades, so has Tesla. Ford was using G-05 but there’s a link between EGR cooler issues and silicate gelling on the 6.0/6.4 PSDs and they switched to Dex-Cool or Mazda green before going all in on Cor-Guard.
I’m happy with silicates in a HOAT… the conversation was about making a jelly, which IME with my S-10 (which has a pristine original cooling system) happened when someone mixed silicates green into Dex….

Im fine with silicates in old IDI diesels with egr. Hundreds of thousands of miles works for me,,,

The key in this conversation is getting a 96 Land Cruiser back to a proper coolant for it, when I don’t really know what’s in it…
 

I miss the days of walking into the store and picking up 'concentrate'. Hard to find because more profit in selling a 1/2 bottle of water.

I mix my own ratios for weather and coolant life expectations. As such, I recommend any of the concentrates. I guess that would be the Toyota Red dealer sourced concentrate, the RecochemOEM branded concentrates, or the Peak concentrate. Otherwise, all others redpink were 50:50 at the local stores..... great if you're lazy or don't plan on any garden hose shenanigan flushes leaving a gallon or rinse water in your block, core, hoses, and bottom of radiator and not calculating for it.

Supertech, Peak, RechochemOEM, ZerexValvoline, Pentosin, NAPA.... all have that 50:50 in that reddish/pinkish Asian color.

I don't find ANY better than others. So, flip a coin or use whatever is locally sourced.

The whole "proper coolant" isn't even worth worrying about since many have learned that tech is more important than color. Pink is a wimpy color. Green/Blue hang out with the cool popular kids. Red is just so violent. For this vehicle, I'd probably just use the multiambiguoustranscolored Peak 10x yellowbelly or their dehydrated drink motor water if you pee Global Amber, and not worry about offending the color blind. Dyes pollute! Save the planet and use a dye free coolant. I remember when a certain brand called their Asian coolant Fuchsia so as not to offend the trademark/licensing with red/pink. I guess they don't worry about color infringement anymore.

Here you go:
 
Both use sodium benzoate as the OAT. It’s Toyota Pink with sebacate I would be more concerned about with its effects on silicone and non-FKM/EPDM elastomers.
Both as in OE Toyota red and Napa red, or what?

What about the peak red?

What about John Deere cool Gard II? Does that use sebactate or similar harsh OAT?
 

Doesn't demand Red. Pink didn't come up until >2002. OE Pink and Red can be mixed without issue per that 20 year old Toyota TSB for when Pink was introduced. Toyota still used Green in the 90's prior to the switchover to Red.

I don't see why there is a push for JD CoolGuard2. I won't bother with it.

Have seen some of the issues with 2eha in a certain brand with negligent owners. Didn't see the same issues with negligent owners in other brands that didn't use a 2eha coolant. Also have not seen any direct failures caused by amu recommended coolant regardless of the so-called chemistry and fear mongering. So, I don't fear any of the recommended Asian coolant. My seals haven't had any issues.

Regardless of coolant used, don't fall for the eternal years/mileage marketing. Change it out. Toyota Green and Red coolants of that decade were good for 2 years or 24k-30k miles. That is all you're going to get out of the Red today. Pink is good for 5 years. I wouldn't use any of the aftermarket coolants more than that 5 years/50k miles regardless of marketing.

Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill. Get a couple gallons of distilled water, some Red concentrate from the dealer, drain out as much as you can, fill it back up, and repeat in 2 years if you still have the vehicle. Or, use ANY Asian red/pink equivalent.
 

Doesn't demand Red. Pink didn't come up until >2002. OE Pink and Red can be mixed without issue per that 20 year old Toyota TSB for when Pink was introduced. Toyota still used Green in the 90's prior to the switchover to Red.

I don't see why there is a push for JD CoolGuard2. I won't bother with it.

Have seen some of the issues with 2eha in a certain brand with negligent owners. Didn't see the same issues with negligent owners in other brands that didn't use a 2eha coolant. Also have not seen any direct failures caused by amu recommended coolant regardless of the so-called chemistry and fear mongering. So, I don't fear any of the recommended Asian coolant. My seals haven't had any issues.

Regardless of coolant used, don't fall for the eternal years/mileage marketing. Change it out. Toyota Green and Red coolants of that decade were good for 2 years or 24k-30k miles. That is all you're going to get out of the Red today. Pink is good for 5 years. I wouldn't use any of the aftermarket coolants more than that 5 years/50k miles regardless of marketing.

Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill. Get a couple gallons of distilled water, some Red concentrate from the dealer, drain out as much as you can, fill it back up, and repeat in 2 years if you still have the vehicle. Or, use ANY Asian red/pink equivalent.
The thing about JD Cool Gard II is my general interest because it’s a product that I have and use. And @nthach knows their stuff.

It’s not a matter of over thinking. It’s a matter of a new to my brother vehicle which we are going to baseline all fluids and filters, and so knowing what was used, and what should be used for that vehicle, especially since the Toyota 4.5L I6 seems to eat head gaskets,,, Napa red is the easiest/most cost effective. Napa also has the peak red thus my interest in that too. Why not do the comparison? Otherwise why does this site even exist?!?
 
For some reason Toyota Pink SLLC doesn’t always play well with some WP seals-the 1ZZFE 1.8s we’ve had seem to seep from the WP shaft seals a little bit. Peak assures me their 10X uses completely compatible inhibitors with the Asian coolants, and the current price is hard to beat.
 
For some reason Toyota Pink SLLC doesn’t always play well with some WP seals-the 1ZZFE 1.8s we’ve had seem to seep from the WP shaft seals a little bit. Peak assures me their 10X uses completely compatible inhibitors with the Asian coolants, and the current price is hard to beat.
Also happens to the 2GR and 1/2/3UR V6/V8s. I replaced the WP once on a 1NZ, the updated pump that was installed as PM didn’t leak pink crud. There’s an Aisin Japanese-made pump on it now.
 
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