flushing radiator fluid

That is correct. However, you're actually draining and refilling the cooling system, including the water jacket in the engine, not just the radiator.

50/50 refers to mixing Toyota red coolant with an equal amount of distilled water, in other words, to a 50% concentration. This is the most common recommendation. For reasons I've not been able to understand, the Factory Service Manual for my '94 suggests a concentration of coolant "greater than fifty per cent, but less than seventy per cent" - clearly states this twice in different sections. So I use 60% coolant, 40% distilled water. Technically, water cools much better than glycol based antifreeze, but apparently there's enough reserve in the Toyota design that it still works fine even under harshest conditions and presumably enhances corrosion protection offered by the Toyota coolant for aluminum surfaces inside the engine and radiator.

No. Sometimes people like to run a garden hose through the radiator to rinse away rust and debris. The Toyota drain hole is very small, so this probably won't work very well. All operations with the cooling system should be done with the engine cold - not running. Your Toyota has an aluminum radiator and plastic radiator upper and lower tanks, so it's unlikely you'd find rust anyway, unless the cooling system maintenance was severely neglected.

Or fill->run->drain and repeat till i see no

Yes. Much better idea, but use pre-mixed coolant, not plain water, so you don't dilute the effective concentration with the residual amount that stays in the engine even after draining. There is a second drain plug on the engine block, but seems redundant to me. Only a few drops came out when I opened it, and is difficult to access. Turn the heater controls on to full heat, let the engine cool, place a container under the radiator and patiently wait for all the old coolant to dribble out from the radiator drain plug. (I use a plastic tub for mixing concrete from a Home Improvement store - large low profile wide container.) Probably a good idea in your case to repeat the process a second time. Just opening the radiator drain will not get all the old coolant out, but will get most of it, so go ahead and do it twice.

Any tools i need to remove drain plug? As i don have any at all right now , i think someone stole my tool box when i moved , short of a pair of vice grips Damned cincinnati.

and

the

Engine coolant mixtures are bit confusing, but it boils down (excuse the terrible pun) to this: the stuff you find at auto-barns comes in roughly 3 strengths which are also indicated as how many years you can leave it in eg

2-3-4 yrs. The longer or the more concentrated mixes cost more and contain more glycol/ anti rust/anti freeze,..the less expensive an accordingly less concentration and shorter time.

Personally, I go for 2 year stuff as I reckon in my '96 there is a reasonabley high chance of having to dump the stuff out due other engine issues,...before 2 years expires.

The other approach is to just use Toyota coolant and go by their time interval recommendations. This is probably more appropriate for newer models,..and not neceassarily lower mileage, as time seems to be the governing factor here more than mileage.

Draining is a matter of opening the radiator and engine block taps,..make sure the radcap is off,..then wait untill the drains have stopped dripping. The engine tap is behind the block at the transmission end,..under the intake manifold. The radiator tap is located in the RHS (as viewed facing the car from front) of the bottom tank

Reverse flush the radiator if you suspect there is sludge or gunk present. Doing the same to the engine may dislodge any loose scale/rust as well. In this event the thermostat has to be removed first.

One fallacy regarding coolant changes is that somehow just doing this will cure a car's cooling problems,...not so, in fact leaving plain water (preferabley rainwater) in will be a safer thing to do in the shortrun as water is the best heat transfer medium. OTOH, reverse flushing the radiator and block (t/stat removed) *may* improve things.

Jason

You should be able to remove the drain plug by hand. If not, pliers (or vice grips) will do. I suggest using a cloth in between to reduce the chances of fraying the plastic cap.

Looks like the first time I posted a response it didn't go through, but happended to have a copy:

That is correct. However, you're actually draining and refilling the cooling system, including the water jacket in the engine, not just the radiator.

50/50 refers to mixing Toyota red coolant with an equal amount of distilled water, in other words, to a 50% concentration. This is the most common recommendation. For reasons I've not been able to understand, the Factory Service Manual for my '94 suggests a concentration of coolant "greater than fifty per cent, but less than seventy per cent" - clearly states this twice in different sections. So I use 60% coolant, 40% distilled water. Technically, water cools much better than glycol based antifreeze, but apparently there's enough reserve in the Toyota design that it still works fine even under harshest conditions and presumably enhances corrosion protection offered by the Toyota coolant for aluminum surfaces inside the engine and radiator.

No. Sometimes people like to run a garden hose through the radiator to rinse away rust and debris. The Toyota drain hole is very small, so this probably won't work very well. All operations with the cooling system should be done with the engine cold - not running. Your Toyota has an aluminum radiator and plastic radiator upper and lower tanks, so it's unlikely you'd find rust anyway, unless the cooling system maintenance was severely neglected.

Or fill->run->drain and repeat till i see no

Yes. Much better idea. There is a second drain plug on the engine block, but seems redundant to me. Only a few drops came out when I opened it, and is difficult to access. Turn the heater controls on to full heat, let the engine cool, place a container under the radiator and patiently wait for all the old coolant to dribble out from the radiator drain plug. (I use a plastic tub for mixing concrete from a Home Improvement store - large low profile wide container.) Probably a good idea in your case to repeat the process a second time. Just opening the radiator drain will not get all the old coolant out, but will get most of it, so go ahead and do it twice.