Is Toyota Red compatible with Zerex Asian?

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I'm driving a 2003 Corolla with 65k miles and the coolant needs replacing. I've heard good things about the Zerex Asian mix. My question is simply this: is Zerex Asian mix compatible with the Toyota Red that's currently in my vehicle?

My current strategy is to "flush" what I can by draining, adding, mixing, and repeated for a few iterations until I get about 88% new coolant in the system with 12% of the old red mix hanging around. Will the small amount of remaining Red be compatible with the Zerex Asian?

For reference, I posted near the end of this thread with my planned course of action. While I may pay more than absolutely necessary, I've heard that Zerex Asian lasts longer than Red and is more comparable to Pink. I can also get the Zerex locally for $14/gal.
 
That's a good deal on the zerex asian. They are compatible and I think if you drain/fill more than once you'll be set. I prefer the drain, fill with distilled, drain, fill with premix but whatever works.
 
Yes, it will work with both Toyota red and Toyota pink. It's a great coolant to use with Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles. I use it in my GS300 and my SC300, my neighbor's Camry and my other neighbor's Nissan Quest. Works great.
 
IIRC the 2003 Corolla needs a water pump & T-belt replacement at 90k ? If that's the case, whatever you put in needs to come out at 90k anyway.

I bought a gallon of Toyota's Super Long Life (pink) AntiFreeze earlier this year and paid $17.99 from dealer.

For $3 more I say stick with the Toyota SuperLong Life, its designed to last 100K.

Lots Prius owners change their radiator & inverter coolant at 100k (scheduled) & don't recall hearing complaints.
 
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Yes, I wouldn't bother with the "flush", but its OK. Make sure you use distilled water. Japanese vehicles are picky about no hard water. On your last drain, drain all of it you can from the petcock and the engine block drain(s) and you will be OK. Make sure your heater valve is open so you minimize holdup in there. That is what I did with my truck and it is fine.
 
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Originally Posted By: gregk24
Just stick with the OEM coolant.


Is that what he asked? Zerex Asian is perfect for mixing with Toyota OEM
 
I use OEM where the labor is a lot more than the part cost. Like a pressure sensor & governor in my transmission. But in most cases a decent name brand is fine.
 
It sounds like the Zerex Asian should have no problems with the Toyota Red. My plan is to drain, refill, run the engine (to mix it all up), and then repeat this twice. I'll end up with 88% new coolant with 12% of the old Red still inside. From what I hear, that's okay.

I'm now looking at my Haynes manual and it says to flush the system using a garden hose. I thought it was a bad idea to use anything but distilled water. Right?
 
You can do several drain and fills just with distilled water, however from what I understand Zerex Asian can only be bought 50/50 pre-mixed, so you will not get a proper coolant/water mix ratio that way and you would have to buy fully concentrated coolant.

I think your plan is fine, however don't expect the new coolant to last as long as the original fill. At least that's not what most owner's manual say. Usually the mileage and time intervals for coolant change are cut in half after original fill.
 
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...You can do several drain and fills just with distilled water, however from what I understand Zerex Asian can only be bought 50/50 pre-mixed, so you will not get a proper coolant/water mix ratio that way and you would have to buy fully concentrated coolant.

Or he can do what I did when the Honda stealer used original green coolant with a Civic head gasket job instead of Honda Type 2 premix. I got all the green out with some distilled flushes, then started adding Type 2 to the radiator, ran it to mix, and did more d&f's. Then using an inexpensive five ball antifreeze hydrometer, continued the process until I got the proper concentration using the AF tester.

In the OP's case, he can follow his plan until the coolant reaches the proper concentration using the five ball AF tester. Or he can do the distilled flush series as I did but it will take longer and likely more new coolant loss. Because of the stealer I had no choice. That's the problem with premix, besides being half water it's really designed more for single radiator d&f's.
 
Well, that's why I plan on basically flushing with the Zerex Asian 50/50. I'll drain, refill with Zerex, run to mix it up, drain, refill with Zerex, runto mix it up, etc.. until I have mostly Zerex. No distilled water will be used. Only coolant.

If I buy 3 gallons of Zerex Asian 50/50, that'll cost me $45. With three gallons, the drain and fill method can get me 88% of the old coolant out of the system. So I'll have 88% new coolant and 12% old coolant. It may not be a perfect system, but I'll know I'll have a good 50/50 mix (because the 50/50 mix is already in there and I'm only adding 50/50 mix) and it will still be cheaper than having a mechanic do it.
 
Originally Posted By: Daboa
Well, that's why I plan on basically flushing with the Zerex Asian 50/50. I'll drain, refill with Zerex, run to mix it up, drain, refill with Zerex, runto mix it up, etc.. until I have mostly Zerex. No distilled water will be used. Only coolant.

If I buy 3 gallons of Zerex Asian 50/50, that'll cost me $45. With three gallons, the drain and fill method can get me 88% of the old coolant out of the system. So I'll have 88% new coolant and 12% old coolant. It may not be a perfect system, but I'll know I'll have a good 50/50 mix (because the 50/50 mix is already in there and I'm only adding 50/50 mix) and it will still be cheaper than having a mechanic do it.


Yes you should be good to go this way. Using distilled water first and then trying to flush it out using 50/50 mix is just a waste of perfectly good coolant, unless like in sayjac's case you have a different formula coolant in the system and you want to flush it out.
Still, I probably would've used something else that comes in concentrate form, even if it's not OEM, because in my opinion, as long as the system is fully flushed with distilled water, most coolants available today will work just fine. I think most of the problems with using non-OEM coolants come from incompatibility issues when the old coolant is not fully flushed out of the system.
 
Originally Posted By: Tones
Toyota's have block drains for removing the old coolant.


Correct. Be sure and leave heater turned to max heat and drain from radiator and block drain.

As far as saying whether one antifreeze is compatible with another, I don't know. If you research it, you will find theToyota and zerex Asian do not have the same chemical makeup. Compatible? Probably. But so is M1 and Amsoil. ;-)
 
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