napa says green coolant

[muffinman]

Originally Posted by toyotaspeed90

I also use hose water. As do most shops.

I just flushed mine about a month ago , the last time was like 17 years ago (i know dumb but the car sat for many years) and it also had water from a hose and there wasn't any rust at all.

[kyo2000]

red or green, it's all your personal preference. I'd say don't mix those two colour together..ONLY mix with distilled water.

A lot people would recommend Toyota RED because it's Toyota branded and we all happen to own a MR2.

[muffinman]

Originally Posted by kyo2000

red or green, it's all your personal preference. I'd say don't mix those two colour together..ONLY mix with distilled water.

A lot people would recommend Toyota RED because it's Toyota branded and we all happen to own a MR2.

I agree that common sense will tell you not to mix the two.


I also agree that alot of people recommend Toyota Red because it's a Toyota brand but even Toyota used regular green ethylene glycol in cars before they started using the red and it was never an issue.

[muffinman]

These are from the owners manual and no where does it say red or distilled water.

[karl]

Originally Posted by Mr.Bryan

Don't mix colors!


It'll gum up on you. Certain types of antifreeze have different chemicals that react with each other, hence the coloring of them. If you mix Toyota red with prestone green or dextron crap, it can create a gummy poo type sediment in the cooling system.

no it won't. it's a standard P-OAT ethylene glycol coolant with red dye instead of green. it has no silicates, nitrites, amines or borates.

the long-life dex-cool crap that GM used in the 90's is the nasty red stuff that makes pudding when you mix it with green. it also tends to soften plastics and generally cause havoc in the cooling system. from what i've read, it has no place in an automotive cooling system at all. it has the 2-EHA organic acid that eats plastics and gasket materials.

peak global lifetime supposedly does not contain silicates, but it also doesn't contain phosphates like the toyota red does. toyota and honda seem to like phosphates to protect the water pump.

apparently zerex sells an asian engine formula, that is silicate and E2H free, but does contain phosphates. seems like this is pretty much a clone of the toyota stuff (and it's probably the same formula, since CCI manufactures the majority of coolant on planet earth, including toyota, zerex, peak, etc).

i'd use toyota red, zerex asian or peak global, in that order of preference. i'd probably use zerex for the price.

[kbrew8991]

Originally Posted by muffinman

These are from the owners manual and no where does it say red or distilled water.

distilled water is just common sense

did red coolant even exist back in the '80s when Mk1s were made (and their owners manuals printed?)

[YellowJacket]

insert pic of double face palm here

Originally Posted by muffinman

These are from the owners manual and no where does it say red or distilled water.

Maybe next time muffinman is in a hospital and needs a procedure newer than the time he was born he will refuse to allow them to do anything more advanced because its not the way things used to be done.

Originally Posted by toyotaspeed90

I also use hose water. As do most shops.

I hope you mean for a driveway FLUSH procedure only... not using tap water for the final 50/50 mixing of a concentrate. Most shops use a machine now that removes the old and puts in the clean coolant in one procedure... there is no water used for flushing anymore if its a modern shop.

Originally Posted by kbrew8991

distilled water is just common sense

did red coolant even exist back in the '80s when Mk1s were made (and their owners manuals printed?)

+1

[toyotaspeed90]

you're darn right I use regular tap water for the final 50/50 mixture.....

again, no problems in any of the cars other than what was already there.

you can try to refute this statement, but the fact of the matter is that it works just fine. I might, however, add that where I live has very clean tap water and is cleaner than most of the US. Doubt that really matters a whole lot, though.

comparing a medical procedure to what color coolant to use in your car is about as big of a stretched analogy you can use.... and if you want to think it stands... then when your car needs an oil change do you take it to the dealership and then have them run extensive and expensive diagnostic testing just to tell you that everything seems to be ok even though you already knew this before you went in?


and for shops.... if anyone here has worked at a shop and done an actual flush.... (and not all shops use machines)... and by flush I don't mean a drain and refill... an actual flush... you use the pressure of the tap water to flow the coolant through, then let as much drain out as possible prior to refill..... how much of that do you think is actually still trapped in there, unless you physically tear the motor down and dump what's in the block out?


how many people here have used garden hose water and themselves physically had a problem and been able to 100% identify the problem as being because they used garden hose water?


if you want to start talking about contaminants in the cooling system.... then you need to also make sure that you're constantly swapping out your coolant overflow bottle (I mean, come on.. it's made of ABS plastic which when heated releases chemicals)... making sure that when you install any components not a sliver of rtv may be facing into your cooling system (because who knows what havoc that may cause), and that you are swapping out your radiator constantly... you never know what's going on internally on the end caps that may be causing any sort of rust or paint contaminants.... do you physically check the play of the shaft in your water pump? who knows... there might be a slight chance that there's some excessive rubbing going on and some slivers of metal are sent into your cooling system....

yes, all of the above are a bit extreme.... but, in my opinion, so is using distilled water. I've used tap water for years without a hitch.... the person who has taught me from the get go does the same..... and he's been into Toyota's for longer than most of us have been alive.....

[David]

I know for a fact that "most shops" use tap water for the flush and final mixture. "Most shops" don't have whatever yellowjacket mentioned.

[Yozuki Ri]

I'm sure given a chance they'd also slap a NAPA badge on the side of the bottle with their slogan "NAPA, 100% American Sass".

[Edit] Also try new and improved NAPA Coolant, available in diet and NAPA Classic "NAPA, 100% Flushed."

[Benesesso]

Originally Posted by karl

no it won't. it's a standard P-OAT ethylene glycol coolant with red dye instead of green. it has no silicates, nitrites, amines or borates.

peak global lifetime supposedly does not contain silicates, but it also doesn't contain phosphates like the toyota red does. toyota and honda seem to like phosphates to protect the water pump.

apparently zerex sells an asian engine formula, that is silicate and E2H free, but does contain phosphates. seems like this is pretty much a clone of the toyota stuff (and it's probably the same formula, since CCI manufactures the majority of coolant on planet earth, including toyota, zerex, peak, etc).

i'd use toyota red, zerex asian or peak global, in that order of preference. i'd probably use zerex for the price.

To add to all this, part of what to use depends on where you live. USA water is generally softer than European water, and hard water plus phosphates are a no-no. Phosphates cause the water hardness elements, calcium and magnesium, to precipitate out--in solid form. Phosphates plus soft water, especially distilled, get along great.

So, while the European car makers hate phosphates, the Japanese hate silicates. Both silicates and phosphates protect metals very well, with silicates being especially good for aluminum. Two problems; silicates don't last a long time, and they can be hard on water pump seals--thus the Japanese dislike of them.

If you have a car with an easy-to-change water pump, buy the cheapest green antifreeze (contains silicates). I'd still use distilled water, but it probably doesn't matter. Just change it fairly often. But if you don't like changing pumps, avoid the cheap stuff. Note that the use of very hard ceramic seals usually lets pumps last a long time, even with silicates.

[traintech86]

even if there was only a very slight advantage to spending a little more on coolant, i'd do it. i fix computers by day and this is the same issue as people who use cheap power supply's. if your coolant screws up, it will cost you far more then the 24.98 at your local dealer. its worth the extra time and money to do it right so you're not sitting there figuring out how to replace your whole cooling setup.

[toyotaspeed90]

hmm... couple weeks later since I commented on this.... all of our cheap GREEN coolant cars with tap water still seem to be doing just fine....

the only seal that I've ever had go bad on an MR2 (coolant wise) is the seal above the alt.... I've never replaced a water pump out of necessity.

[SE-RMR2]

As far as Toyota Red coolant is concerned... I have talked to many toyota techs that say the Texaco Red is the same shizzz...