Coolant Reservoir

[Whip Cracker]

I've replaced the coolant in my 3VZ-FE (Gen III Camry)

pretty straight forward... drain the coolant outta the radiator with the plug... do it on the grass or sumfin. don't bother about takin the cap off the top of the radiator. I ended up filling bottles of water and flushing the whole engine/radiator out until I saw water coming out of the bottom of the radiator (there's a cap for coolant on the engine). Only fill the coolant, and flush out through that cap on the engine. As mentioned, there is another outlet somewhere on the engine... generally on the right side (looking at the car). The 3VZ I couldn't even FIND the damn thing, but the 1MZs should be alright?

You're best off either getting Toyota coolant, or the diluted Nulon Red coolant. I use the Nulon coolant... ended up using around 7L or sumfin... can't remember offhand, but more than one big bottle lol.

The reason why the cooland overflow tanks keep cracking is due to the sunlight creeping in from the side and heating up. I use padded tape along the side there (thanks to Steve at Camcrew), and that's fixed the problem.

Hope this helps mate.

[lexce]

I checked my hood and found that i have this red coolant so if i have to tap it up (already in the minimum level), just buy the red one right and pour a bit ? coz base from this thread, dont mix different color..

thanks

[Rolla Boy]

Correct, always use the same colour coolant thats already in the car...

[94CamryCSI]

I had my coolant flushed at the begining of the year, and Green coolant was put in.... I have a 94 Camry CSi. Should i be flushing to get original red coolant in there? I noticed i had to replace my radiator cap recently (Water was remaining in my resivor and the radiator was sometimes low before i did this).

thanks for your help

Edited December 19, 2007 by 94CamryCSI

[Rolla Boy]

Yeah, red coolant is much better than the green stuff...

[Wixy]

hey guys

sorry to dig this VERY VERY OLD thread from the dead,

:o why do people charge ridicious amounts of money for just a change in a coolant overfill bottle?

for the sxv20r series of camry's it takes 1min to remove, and another 5-10mins to replace (including replacing it with new coolant).

only reason is i was detailing my engine yesterday, and as i was wiping my coolant bottle, it broke in2 many different bits (the top corners that is). i was somewhat annoyed that most japanese cars have plastics that cant withstand heat, which funnily enough, the contents of the bottle is used to cool a heating engine. pathetic. just pathetic.

anyway, was calling everywhere and its the same standard price of $45-$50. i'll check out the wreakers on the weekend to see if there are good 2nd hand ones (highly unlikely though), but yes, charging in excess of $118 for a 30sec clipon for a pathetic plastic bottle (that will brittle soon) and adding coolant, is excessive.

[peregrine]

hey guys

sorry to dig this VERY VERY OLD thread from the dead,

:o why do people charge ridicious amounts of money for just a change in a coolant overfill bottle?

for the sxv20r series of camry's it takes 1min to remove, and another 5-10mins to replace (including replacing it with new coolant).

only reason is i was detailing my engine yesterday, and as i was wiping my coolant bottle, it broke in2 many different bits (the top corners that is). i was somewhat annoyed that most japanese cars have plastics that cant withstand heat, which funnily enough, the contents of the bottle is used to cool a heating engine. pathetic. just pathetic.

anyway, was calling everywhere and its the same standard price of $45-$50. i'll check out the wreakers on the weekend to see if there are good 2nd hand ones (highly unlikely though), but yes, charging in excess of $118 for a 30sec clipon for a pathetic plastic bottle (that will brittle soon) and adding coolant, is excessive.

Does anyone know if there is a stainless steel after market bottle available?

Edited February 22, 2010 by peregrine

[Wixy]

mmm i think theres a good reason why they dont use any metals as an overflow bottle.

i dont know it, but if they could im sure they would have by now, seeing this type of radiator design is very old.

'high density' plastic only brittles in australia, and not in any other country. countries with constant high heat or tropical temperatures are often accompanied by humidity. australia suffers from low humidity in summers, hence the brittle. we also have no ozone.

[Whip Cracker]

If you don't want the top to brittle up, you'll need to run padded tape along the side of the bonnet there to stop the sun getting in. There's not much you can do for 10-15 years of searing hot sunlight onto a bonnet with the sunlight going in the side and corroding the bottle.

Hope this helps :)

[peregrine]

As far as I can see, the last coolant change was 2003. So yeah, it NEEDS doing.

At the price you were quoted it would have to include a full coolant change. Had a quick look at mine 1999 model and looks like all there is , is undo and redo one bolt and undo and redo one hose (plastic pipe) Swap the pipe over quick and pore the coolant from the old bottle into the new one and you won't even need anymore coolant.