Type of coolant to use

JCANTERGIANI

MEMBER
2004 TOYOTA COROLLA
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
172,000 MILES

1.8, AT, 172K. It's time to replace the coolant and I want to do it myself. I get conflicting opinions about what type of coolant to use. Toyota says ONLY their coolant is appropriate (of course they say that!). Does it have to be borate free? Does it have to be red and not yellow? Does it have to be a HOAT type? The coolant brands I've seen at the auto parts store don't specify if they are HOAT or not. One parts guy told me it doesn't matter what brand I use as long as it's not green and another one said it has to be Pentosin PentoFrost A1 if I don't want the Toyota brand coolant. Please give me the skinny, thanks!

3 Replies

PROTECH1980

MEMBER
901 POSTS

Hello,

Here is a guide to help change the coolant with the type and capacity below.

Fluid Types

Coolant type:

In order to avoid technical problems, only use "Toyota Super Long Life Coolant" or similar high quality ethylene glycol based non-silicate, non-amine, non-nitrite, and non-borate coolant with long-life hybrid organic acid technology. Follow the manufacturers dilution recommendations on the label.

1. Do not use alcohol type antifreeze or plain water alone.

2. DO NOT FURTHER DILUTE PRE-MIXED MANUFACTURER APPROVED ETHYLENE GLYCOL BASED COOLANT IF USED.

Capacities
Total Cooling System Capacity:. 6.5 L (6.9 US qt, 5.7 Imp. Qt.)

Please let us know if you need anything else to get the problem fixed.

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Sunday, May 15th, 2011 AT 5:18 PM

DANTE SIGONA

MEMBER
1 POST
2001 TOYOTA COROLLA

Engine Cooling problem
2001 Toyota Corolla 4 cyl 80,000 miles

My Questions:

How do I know when to add more Coolant?

What type of coolant do I use?

To explain my delema further:

I'm planning a road trip and it's hot. I opened my radiator cap and the liquid inside is red. However, the white plastic tank that is connected to my radiator is completely empty. The white container reads "Fluid Low" on the bottom and "full" towards the top. So I'm thinking, Maybe I should go pick up some of this interesting red fluid and fill the white container up to the "full" line. Or should I?

Thanks for reading!

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Monday, March 25th, 2019 AT 12:11 PM (Merged)

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

You should first have the system pressure tested to locate any external leaks and have the pressure cap tested as well. The red is Toyota genuine coolant a full bottle will before to much for the recovery tank so just add water with a cap full if you get it from Toyota. But get the system tested for leaks first.

Mark (mhpautos)

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Monday, March 25th, 2019 AT 12:11 PM (Merged)