Up is Down

Super Long Life is pre-mixed so you just pour it into the cooling system because it is already diluted to the proper mixture. One gallon of SLL gets you 1 gallon of coolant.

The Long Life is concentrate so it must be diluted 50% with distilled water. One gallon of LL gets you 2 gallons of coolant.

The SLL appears to be cheaper until you fill your cooling system.

How long is this good for? I seem to recall 10 years or 100,000 miles or???? I was impressed.

The original factory fill of Super Long Life coolant is good for 10 years,

As someone who has routinely replaced radiators and water pumps, hoses and fittings etc. on non Toyota products - I'm really have doubts.

Is it realistic to not expect any of that deterioration for 10 years or

What should I expect to do about the cooling system during that period?

I'm sure that there is some deterioration of the cooling system over 10 years or 100k miles, but probably not to the point where they need replacement. During that period, occasionally check to make sure that the coolant overflow reservoir is filled to the proper level, and take a look at the coolant to make sure that it remains clear without any rust accumulation.

Are soft plugs (in the engine block) a major concern on Toyotas? Besides hoses - what is the usual order of failure and when? Is it more time than mileage dependant? m

Soft plug (sometimes referred to as freeze plugs or casting plugs) failure is rare - I've never run across one that was leaking due to corrosion.

In the cooling system, the usual order or failure is:

- Accessory drive belts (used to be called "fan belts") need replacement between 90,000 and 100,000 miles

- Coolant drips from the water pump weep hole at somewhere between 140,000 and 180,000 miles

- Thermostat sticks open somewhere between 180,000 and 250,000 miles. People replace radiator caps when the thermostat is replaced because someone in a newsgroup tells them to replace the cap. The replacement cap starts to leak 60,000 miles later.

- Engine-driven cooling fan clutch quits somewhere between 250,000 and

- people get nervous that the original hoses have over 300,000 miles and don't trust them, so they replace all of the original hoses and the replacements start to balloon 60,000 miles later.

If you do not replace the coolant on time, the radiator will need replacement somewhere between 180,00 and 250,000 miles.

The coolant may be good for that long, but can the cooling system last that long? ;)

Sure LOL

Any notion how the above numbers may change is one only drive say 5,000 miles per year or perhaps even less? I guess the question becomes how soon does rot and corrosion disable a car that is rarely used. m