Thanks for the vid, so if I just do the radiator flush, with the 1 gallon at a time, when I refill the radiator, I fill it up to the top with the antifreeze, which i got at a Toyota dealer for 20$ a gallon, kinda high but I don't know no other. fill up to the top with the 6.6 quarts. correct me if I am wrong please, I am still new at this car maintenance. Thanks again.

 

No prob. If you have time, shop around on the internet. I have heard Pep Boys has some as well, but may be about the same as the $20.

Zerex Asian is just fine for the coolant, and I bought them for about $14 a gallon off Amazon. Delivered in 2 days.

Whatever the quart value, drain the radiator, fill it back up until the fluid is at the cap level with distilled water. Run the car, let it circulate, drain, repeat. Do that until the fluid coming out of the radiator looks like water.

Now drain and begin to fill with the 50/50 coolant until the coolant reaches the cap. Run engine, circulate the fluid, let the engine cool down, drain, repeat. You'll note that the first drain, if the fluid circulated through the engine, will be very diluted compared to the coolant right out of the jug. Pour a little new coolant into a glass jar to use as a comparison. The first drain will be diluted. Keep doing that until the drain color looks like the new color. If you burn through your 3 gallons, get another gallon. After 3 gallons you should be OK - you shouldn't be in danger or anything. That's why I would get a coolant tester at AutoZone or wherever - a few bucks. Tells you the mixture of the coolant to water.

 

Read the label on the Toyota product to determine if the coolant is already premixed with water. If so, don't add more water.

After filling the radiator, squeeze the upper and lower radiator hoses to purge them of air, then add more coolant as required.

Ideally you want to add as much coolant as was drained out which will indicate there is no air in the coolant system.

6.6 quarts is the only capacity spec provided in all service data.

 

Absolutely what Joey is saying - personally I would stick with premix 50/50. You could go through a complex dance of swap all the coolant in the car with distilled water, then drain the radiator and add full concentrate into the radiator, circulate, then test to see the mix ratio, adjust as necessary, but blah on that. To me it's pretty simple: swap the old coolant in the system with distilled water. Swap the distilled water with 50/50 mix. Done. Use any brand name coolant that makes your heart go pitter patter as long as it has the chemistry Toyota mandates, which I believe is P-HOAT for your car. This will cost you a few more dollars as you will be dumping some amount of good coolant towards the end, but swapping 100% of the old and getting 100% of the new, for 80,000 miles life or so... not a bad return on investment. If you drive 12k a year that means that extra $14-$20 is spaced over 6 years or so, in exchange for 100% new coolant in the system. No brainer.

 

Hi DIYDad,

I'm fascinated by your 1-gallon method !

I have 4-cyl Camry 2013 with 203,000 mls. Just replaced water pump and the mechanic put extended-life NAPA coolant, yellow color. I want to drain it and put original pink. I watched about 20 videos on how-to flush the WHOLE system, but YOURS seems most simple and makes lots of sense. The key is to use the gizmo that measures the mixture ratio at the end, correct ? I'm not so much after saving some bucks, but my main debate - using this method, will I be able to do better job here, or should I take it to the dealer ?

I live in SoCal...hot and dry. The engine achieves normal temp within 3-4 minutes. I'm thinking....intead of running the engine, wouldn't it be better just to drive few miles and then - repeat ?

Thank you in advance.