How do I flush the radiator in my 04 Corolla

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I am a bit confused at the stickers under the bonnet. Should be SLLC, but also shows LLC in 07.

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Arrggg!! Apeiria - I took to long editing that last reply adding a picture. The tank is not on the left that year, I circled it below. Just open the cap and look.

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I don't know what the rollout is over there. Over here it would most likely be pink. Look at the coolant in the plastic expansion tank. If its pink it will be obvious, the color doesn't change much as it ages.
 
Thinking about your pic for a while, the bottom sticker is a service sticker from the dealer or whoever serviced the coolant at some point. Its an older sticker from the Red days. I'm thinking whoever put that sticker on is using up old stickers. May not reflect whats actually in there. Looks like the original coolant type is listed on the top sticker. Says super Long Life Coolant = Pink. Visual verification in the plastic expansion tank will confirm.
 
Would say pink, definitely. I am intrigued why it was serviced so early.

Thanks for the tips, sorry for the hijack!
 
If it was dealer serviced, they could have applied the sticker after the scheduled maintenance inspection and top offs by the manual. But not actually replaced the coolant. When I buy a used car and don't know the history I replace all the fluids regardless. That way I know for sure.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Your 04 Corolla uses Toyota Long Life (Red) coolant. The Super Long life (Pink) coolant was not used until 05+. Toyota Red LLC is sold as concentrate meaning it has to be mixed 50/50 with distilled water prior to use. Once you do that, you have 2 gallons of coolant to use. It makes Toyota Red 1/2 the cost per gallon as the the Pink coolant.

Toyota has specific requirements for coolant. No 2-eha (dex-cool). No silicate (some HOATs like G-05, green, etc). As stated above, your Toyota uses the Red LLC coolant concentrate. Once diluted 50/50 with distilled water from the grocery store, the cost per gallon will be approx $15. There is an alternative coolant sold at Napa called "Zerex Asian Vehicle Antifreeze/Coolant". Its premixed, also $15 a gallon.

Sticking with the requirements will allow you to perform a simple drain and fill. A drain and fill on a Toyota is as easy as changing the oil. It will get 90% of the coolant and will be good for 60k. The drain will be approx 4qts + the drain, clean and fill of the coolant expansion tank. A flush is not required because of the coolant Toyota uses. There is no heavy silicate, no 2-eha sludge to flush from the system.

Locate the hand tight plastic radiator drain plug located at the bottom right of the radiator. The radiator has a drain funnel. So your only going to loosen the drain plug until coolant flows, you will not fully remove it. Not fully removing the drain plug will force the coolant down the funnel into a waiting container rather than splash all over the place. Takes about 15 mins to drain. I go straight to a container like a plastic milk jug. That will require jacking the car up slightly to make room for the jug. But you can use your oil drain pan if you want.

The procedure is simple. Open the radiator cap, loosen (but don't remove) the radiator drain plug, let the coolant out into your container of choice. The container should be 4qts or more otherwise you need to monitor drain to change containers to prevent spill.

While its draining remove and clean the expansion tank and its cap in the sink. Put it back on and fill to the full line with coolant.

When the radiator has finished draining close the hand tight drain plug. Refill the radiator till its full. Important step Here. Your going to start the car with the radiator cap off to "burp" the air out of the system. Keep the cap in your hand ready to put back on. Start the car. add coolant if necessary. As the engine begins to warm, the coolant will expand and begin to rise. Just before the coolant begins to overflow, put the radiator cap back on. Now that the radiator cap is back on let the car run until the temp gauge rises to the middle and stabilizes via thermostat opening. In a day or so top off the expansion tank. The system may draw some additional coolant in which is normal. After that expect some minor coolant loss which is normal.

I prefer buying the Toyota Red LLC not only because I think its a good coolant, but because I end up with 2 gallons after the mix. This allows me to top off the expansion tank between 50-60k drain and fills.


What he said ^^^^^^ This is what I do for my Toyotas as well.
 
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Uh nothing. I went to check my oil and happened to look at the Overflow tank and thought "hum it's hit over 95 degrees here already (yes spring in Idaho got to love it), and though I wonder when the last time the coolant was changed. I looked in my owners manual which said for me to check the coolant level by looking at the reservoir. I looked & there is nothing but a nice white calcium buildup around the outside (i didn't see any on the inside but didn't look that well either). Then it said to always use ethylene-glycol type coolant... That Toyota Genuine Long Life Coolant was originally put in... and they recommend at 50% solution (pg 226-227). Then they refer me to page 253 for the total capacity which is (6.5L).
Even in the Passport to Performance booklet it, the only two references to coolant are ethylene-glycol and Toyota Genuine Long Life Coolant.
I know I'm going to sound like a "dumb girl" now, but I sure wish there wasn't all this "red, pink, green, orange" stuff. I understand the chemical name a lot easier than I do trying to figure out all the different colors.
Okay back to Overflow tank. Nothing in there, no color to be found at all. However the engine isn't running hot, but with summer coming on I want to be prepared especially since I drive 60+ miles a day back & forth to school. I've cleaned the cabin filter & know I need to get a new one is there anything else I need to do at 264K or check on at this point. I change the oil about every 5k miles (sometimes it goes a bit over if I have to wait until my next check). I keep a check on the ps fluid & I have a manual tranny.
Thanks again
 
In the morning, when the car sat all night and is cold, remove the radiator cap and check if you can see the coolant in the radiator. If the radiator filler neck is full all the way to the top, you're ok and only the expansion tank needs topping off to the cold line.
If the coolant level in the radiator is below the filler neck by few inches or more, you are low on coolant.

Honestly, I would not overcomplicate this thing. In reality Toyota's red or pink coolants will work just fine with radiator drain and fill. On such a high mileage car I would not go beyond 5 years on any coolant anyway, so these two will serve you just fine.
Also, since you said you will be doing the drain and fill in your driveway, you will see how the coolant looks like when it comes out. If it's really dark and dirty looking I would do few drain and fills with distilled water to clean the system out a bit. With warm weather you can even drive for few days just with water in the system.

If the coolant looks fairly clean and transparent, I would just replace whatever was drained with Toyota's 50/50 mix.
 
Ok guys, I took your advice and returned the Prestone stuff & went to my Toyota Dealership & the parts guy sold me the undiluted coolant (he said it was a much better deal). I did make a huge mistake on my mileage (sorry), I read my truck's mileage which is 264k. My Toyota's is 167k. I'm so sorry. I just found out last Monday that I have a nerve problem with my eyes and they don't alline up together. When I look at something (like where I keep my mileage written down for each month), can confuse the two.
Thanks again !!!
 
If someone already pointed this out, I apologize in advance. The bulletin says SLLC is used in Japan made cars only while most of Corollas are made in USA I believe.. To my eyes, my 04 Corolla's factory coolant is red for sure. (which I believe is past due for long) Thank you for the writeup Leakyseals - I am thinking of doing it this weekend.
 
Okay so I changed the coolant per the instructions from Toyota (drain coolant, fill w/distilled H2O & run engine w/heater on high for 10 min, allow to cool; drain H2O & fill with new coolant/H2O mix, run engine w/heater on high for 10 min). When I went to shut off the car I noticed the heater was not putting out any heat. So can I take it that has something to do with the thermostat? & if so can you tell me how to change it.
Thanks for the post by the way
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Thank you all so very much for all your help. I did find after trying to drain the coolant through the bottom of the radiator where the plug is on every other Corolla, that the drain plug is on the back of the radiator. I went to the dealer and they gave me a diagram which I am going to try & upload here so you all can see (by the way you wont have to lift the car if your drain pan can fit underneath the car because you can reach the plug under the hood).

I followed the instructions to the t, and after I was done found my heater no longer works. I take it this may mean that the thermostat may need to be replaced??? If so (or not) could you give me instructions on how to fix this?

Thanks again to all of you I really appreciate the help.
aw [censored] I cant figure out how to upload the stupid image, so if your smarter than me
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& know how or want a copy just send me a msg & I'll get it to you some how
 
When I bought it at the Toyota dealership in Ontario, Oregon it cost $32.00 for a gallon unmixed.
 
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