New Member, I just Love Toyotas,I have a Corolla & a Hilux .

[Mark S.]

Hello, I just Love Toyotas, My dear Mother gave me her 2011 Corolla Ascent w/ only 45,000 kms and I just Love having a car with No Issues as in Fixing things up and things going Wrong as they Do with other Well Know cars(Its an Easy Guess what Brands we are talking about here) But to have and drive a car that Nothing Goes Wrong is a seeing Miracle and a Return to Sanity. Now I have purchased a 1996 Hilux 2.4 carby one owner, 205,000 kms new tyres in a Pretty Condition country car. Now I've checked the coolant overflow tank and it is'nt green or red but a murky black which has got me concerned as I checked the radiator contents after a big drive before buying and did'nt see any Bubbles.It has'nt overheated on a big run.The previous owner spent close to $1800.00 on serviceing etc about 6 months ago. Now I'll do a radiator flush proper But  what type of Coolant and what Brand do you People recommend and anything else for that matter. Thank You for your time and advice. Mark W S.

[campbeam]

I mainly use either Penrite or Nulon coolant.

For the last coolant change, I used Repco brand [ on special and manufactured by Penrite[?]]. I could not easily access the coolant drain plugs on the engine block so I elected to flush the coolant system a few times with distilled water and used the coolant concentrate rather than the coolant pre-mix.

No experience with having a murky black coloured coolant issue. However would be considering also using a radiator flush product. I also remove the coolant overflow tank and give it a decent clean to remove any deposits/residue before adding the new coolant. 

My latest bit of research suggested to replace the coolant every 3 years rather than rely upon the additive package of the longer service life of the coolant. This is where it becomes handy to have litmus testing strips to check the Ph level. Something else that I have done in the past prior to this latest radiator flush, has been to annually clean the coolant overflow tank and then fill with new coolant.