Was this 'flush' ok?

[Parlay_Slow]

New to the DIY maintenance thing. I am giving some care to a 2003 RAV4 with 190k miles on it. I do not know when the last time the coolant was changed. Here's what I did:

1. Drained everything from the radiator, engine block, and reservoir. Coolant was a green-brown color.
2. Filled with a quart of Peak coolant flush plus the rest of the way with distilled water.
3. Drove around for 10 min with the heat on.
4. Drained the radiator, reservoir, and block again. I was surprised and dismayed at how the liquid was still pretty much the same green-brown color. I did not have more water or time, so..
5. Filled it up with Zerex Asian (pink).

I *think* the Zerex Asian should play ok with whatever old green was left. Should I consider doing another drain/fill with the Zerex Asian at the next oil change, or is it overkill?

 

[05LGTLtd]

Did you use a pre mix 50/50 concentration zerex Asian?

Sounds like you did good. You might want to run this fill for a short interval and repeat. What's come out and fresh fluid has got to be better than it was prior!

May need a different or stronger dose of flush next time?

Didn't Toyota use a long life pink (?) coolant in most vehicles by 2003? Maybe someone dexcooled it???

 

[Gasbuggy]

What color is it now that it's all mixed together? I would not mix brown/green with pink. I would have sooner dumped tap water in and finished the job at a later date.

 

[barkingspider]

I would do another drain everything, flush with water a couple of times, then 50/50

 

[Parlay_Slow]

Originally Posted By: Gasbuggy
What color is it now that it's all mixed together? I would not mix brown/green with pink. I would have sooner dumped tap water in and finished the job at a later date.


What's the best way to get the color now? The fluid in the reservoir is fresh, light pink, but I get the impression that there is not a lot of mixing back and forth between the reservoir and the rest of the system.

Do I have to drain a little from the bottom of the radiator?

 

[HTSS_TR]

Most driveways are inclined so that I backup the car to have the bottom of radiator at lowest point to drain the coolant. I turned around to refill the radiator. i also had heater set to max for both drain and refill.

 

[mclasser]

I emailed Valvoline (maker of Zerex) a while back and they said their Asian stuff isn't compatible with the old green coolant. Old green hasn't been used for years so I'm guessing your RAV4 was filled with the the all makes/models universal stuff. Although technically "universal," there's a chance the different chemistries won't play nice with each other. I'd do 2 more drain & fills with the Zerex to even out the system.

 

[Kestas]

A dirty neglected cooling system deserves a 'flush until clear' instead of a dump and fill. There are many good procedures written on this site and elsewhere on the Internet.

 

[Gasbuggy]

Originally Posted By: Parlay_Slow
Originally Posted By: Gasbuggy
What color is it now that it's all mixed together? I would not mix brown/green with pink. I would have sooner dumped tap water in and finished the job at a later date.


What's the best way to get the color now? The fluid in the reservoir is fresh, light pink, but I get the impression that there is not a lot of mixing back and forth between the reservoir and the rest of the system.

Do I have to drain a little from the bottom of the radiator?


I would drain some out of the petcock and see what it looks like.

 

[Parlay_Slow]

I am going to do a 2x drain & fill tomorrow with more of the Zerex Asian pink (mclasser's advice). This is a little pricey, but I do not mind. Should last me another 3 years.

 

[Parlay_Slow]

I did a drain (got about 5 quarts of 6.7 capacity), and the fluid that came out looked clean and pink.

It isn't *quite* as light pink as the stuff in the bottle, but I think close enough to where I only did one fill and plan on returning the extra fluid. Anyone disapprove?

One more question - do listed coolant capacities include the reservoir jug?