I purchased prestone super radiator cleaner to hopefully clean my cooling system. The cleaner instructs you to drain radiator and fill with water and 1liter of the flush. then drive for 6 hrs and flush again with water and then add approx. 1gal antifreeze/water(50/50). I have been using the regular ethl. glycol and not the very expensive "red" that toyota recommends. In addition I have a small plastic prestone " flush and fill " kit which supposedly allows me to back flush the system by means of a "T" fitting that goes into the heater inlet hose. My question: is this effective or should something else be done. I don't think i have flushed it in 3 yrs. thanks in advance.
97 camry-4 cyl- (82m miles) cooling system flush? Useful?
Nov 20, 2005
8 Replies
Flushing is good but know your houses pressure you dont want to push in
5 gpm at 100psi in the motor. ANY antifreeze that is for aluminum motors is good, stick with name brand like Prestone or Peak, not generic, why pay extra to toyota. You should do hoses and thermostat to, but fo thermostat use genuine Toyota, Ive had my last 2 non toy not work correctlyWhy do you think you need to flush and refill the cooling system? Oh I see you used the Prestone instead of the red Toyota fluid... That explains it. A drain and fill with the red fluid is all you need every 30,000 miles.
Prestone is just as good if not better than Toy red.
We are talking about the same green prestone that has been around forever? The stuff that has rusted several of my old cars radiators so it looks like mud? Have you EVER heard a complaint about Toyota red coolant?
I only use antifreeze stated for aluminum, don`t be so narrow minded to think toyota has a monopoly on it , or can you tell me of a car manufacturer that doesn't use aluminum in the motor, you don't see them buying Red, who knows Prestone might even make it for them.
Well in the old days the engines were mostly iron, not aluminum. Hence my great Prestone experiences as I qualified in my post. If it works for you, great. Dont know if Prestone will lubricate your water pump as well as toyota red does but thats your choice. BUT the big question is WHY is humblejohn wanting to do a flush on his car? The Toyota red coolant has never even looked dirty in 350,000 miles on
2 camrys and I have had no water pump failures. Changed the last one with the timing belt just for safety at 160,000 miles. Heck even GM cant even get it right with their Dexcool... Search on that for problems..I agree with Rob. Toyota red with distilled water leaves the cooling system the cleanest I've ever seen on any car.
Maybe red is best but I have doughts, I use peak or prestone good for apx 50000m or 5 years. The toy manual for my 4 shows 45000m or 36 months first flush and every 30000 or 24 months there after, going by time he is way overdue, time is just as hard on coolant.
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