Which coolant & how much do I need

[Tiger Tim]

Just noticed that there seems to be only water in the coolant system in my MK1a so I need to replace it with coolant. Shound I use the Toyota Forlife coolant or are there other products just as good. Also how much do I require - I think I read sometime that it takes about 12 litres but I could be wrong.


Tim.

[LimeyMk1]

12 litres for a full coolant replacement but it's rare that you'll get that much out unless you unplug the radiator pipes and hang the car from it's bumper.

You can use forlife (I do), but it's generally accepted that a good coolant with rust inhibitor will do.

[DevaMR2]

What's the difference between the red and the green Forlife?

Edit: Sorry for butting in.

[Negativvv]

From what i know we should be using the Red, why i dont really know but i do know you shouldnt mix colours. I did once in another car and wondered why it went all brownish!

Incidentally are we meant to collect and dispose of coolant or does washing it down with a load of water work?

[LimeyMk1]

Incidentally are we meant to collect and dispose of coolant or does washing it down with a load of water work?

Should be taken to your local dump for correct disposal (read landfill), we don't want to kill those fishies now do we.

[Negativvv]

Oh dear!! Ive been a naugty boy, i know old engine oil is a sin above all others to dump but i thought watered down coolant was "ok"...

Atleast i know better now! People tell me the problem with coolant is domestic animals (cats) like to lap it up for some unknown reason and ingesting it doesnt do them any favours

[Rosssco]

I've heard that mixing different types of coolant can sometimes cause it to basically turn into jelly (not the nice stuff either), and you can imagine trying to pump that round the engine...

[Karl_T]

12 litres for a full coolant replacement but it's rare that you'll get that much out unless you unplug the radiator pipes and hang the car from it's bumper.

I still favour undoing the rad hoses and sticking a leaf blower on the filler cap. No problem shifting all 12 litres or however much it is, saving any of it to go back is another issue......

Since then I've just gone with sticking the back on ramps and letting the gradient do it, gets 90% of it out.

Anyway how can they justify calling it forlife when you have to keep changing it every few years.

Karl

[System-G]

Any Ethylene Glycol Based coolant will be fine. Don't get caught out by the "Forlife" stuff. Toyota also sell "Longlife". Stick with the red/pink in either case.

Halford premix is ethylene glycol based as is their concentrated stuff. The concentrate stuff is cheepest by far.

Do not mix alcohol based coolant with ethylene glycol based coolant as it will turn to a jelly like substance. If you are unsure what is already in the car, drain it out and flush with tap water until it runs clear. Then fill with ethylene glycol coolant of your choice

[Negativvv]

I thought i read on an old post somewhere here that Forlife is better?

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic ... &start=20

Peeps here says it lasts years too!

[Lauren]

I thought i read on an old post somewhere here that Forlife is better?

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic ... &start=20

Peeps here says it lasts years too!

Makes no odds. Any glycol based coolant is fine.

[System-G]

The coolant, regardless of it's brand, should be changed every two years. which is why (to me) it's absolutely pointless spending mega £££ on "Forlife" when "Longlife" or Halfords own are cheaper options

[Moon Monkey]

From what i know we should be using the Red, why i dont really know but i do know you shouldnt mix colours. I did once in another car and wondered why it went all brownish!

I asked the local Mr.T and they said that mixing the green and red coolant shouldn't be an issue. I suppose mixing the two to make the brownish colour would make it harder to tell if you had a load of cack in the system, but then every time I change mine I refill the system with water and run the engine for a bit to flush it as you can never drain the whole lot out in one go.

Apparently red is for JDM cars and green for the UK (???), but to be honest I don't think there is any difference but as other people on this thread have said, using any good ethylene glycol based coolant will do trick as long as it is changed every two years (changed whether Toyota brand or not) as the dissimilar metals (ally head, iron block) causes the properties of the coolant to degrade over time.

[Negativvv]

Ok im changing the coolant this weekend, probably going to get the Halfords concentrate but i read on a previous thread you shouldnt use tap water to mix incase of limescale build ups?

[kevin..in]

Anyway how can they justify calling it forlife when you have to keep changing it every few years.

Karl

you can read it two ways

1 Forlife i.e. wont kill your engine with corrosion!

2 Forlife 100K KMs thats roughly 60K miles, expected life of a car in the Land of the Rising Sun

[System-G]

1 Forlife i.e. wont kill your engine with corrosion!

Neither will MrT's Long Life, Halfords Premix or Halfords Cancentrate.

If you are going to usecancentrate, it's better to use distilled water, but I have never bothered. Our SC now runs 10ltrs Long Life (with about 1ltr of tap water) - it used to only run tap water. The only limescale was in the rubber cooling hoses with a little bit of rusting in the head.
Our Track Car runs Halfords Premix. Not sure what the previous owners ran it on, but there was very little limescale or corrosion anywhere in the cooling system.
Not sure what Tango is running...

[mosguido]

how i've always done it has been minimal coolant during summer and 50/50 ish during winter periods where it gets cold.
i use toyota's over here as to be honest it wasn't very expensive. Better not to mix in my opinion the coolant colors, as if it looks brown you can't tell if its due to rust/dodgy cooling system or if its just the color. If you have all red, if it changes significantly you can see theres a prob straight away and sort it (unless you're lazy like me )

in nz i used to run only water in my s/c 80% of the year round as it never got cold enough to freeze apart from a very short period of time..

[kevin..in]

1 Forlife i.e. wont kill your engine with corrosion!

Neither will MrT's Long Life, Halfords Premix or Halfords Cancentrate.

I'm not suggesting it will Garrick

just explaining the meaning of "Forlife" thats all

for the record my car has Texaco Havaline long life (gaurenteed for 5 years or 250,000KMs) in it, thats flourescent orange
when I do my HG I have a 20ltr container of Silkolene long life (same stuff as Texaco) also flourescent orange!

[dex]

If you are going to usecancentrate, it's better to use distilled water

Distilled water isn't that good to put into an engine as it is corrosive, you need to ensure that the concentrate is designed to counter it's effects if you are going to use it. I personally always use tap water and don't think twice about it.

[Negativvv]

This is all slightly contradictory

So what type of water goes into the ready mixed stuff?

I guess its all largely irrelevant aslong as the stuff is changed every 2 yrs or so!