Toyota coolant "generations"

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by cyberpriusII, Oct 2, 2009.

  1. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    I'm am learning my way back around here. I hope I have posted in the right forum.

    I have an '09 Prius. It's red, it runs. I don't think it's a touring Prius, although I do take it out for drives :p

    Anyway, dear dad gave me a jug of Toyota brand "red coolant" that he used to use in his 2003 Camry. You have to mix it with distilled water that comes from special streams in Japan or something like that, but otherwise fine.

    But now Toyota apparently has some "new type" of reddish coolant in the past year or two.

    I could buy some, or I could buy a couple of bottles of Grateful Red wine for the same price -- not that I would waste the wine on the Prius.

    So, is my dear father's "old red coolant," which he says he bought in 2004 from the local Toyota dealer good enough for the '09? Dad says it is.

    I could call the dealer, but honestly, in my opinion they are focused on nothing more than selling more and more parts at highly inflated prices to me....the Toyota brand rubber floor mats for the Prius, which I bought separately a few weeks after I got the new car were MSRP about $94.00.

    My local dealer wanted $120! Why, I asked? Because "that's what we were told to sell them for." I bought them in portland from another Toyota dealer for $64. But I wander.

    So, dad's coolant fine for the red beast?

    Kristi
     
    #1 cyberpriusII, Oct 2, 2009
  2. morpheusx

    morpheusx Professor Chaos

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    Yes they are different, DO NOT MIX THEM.

    Toyota Super Long Life Coolant which is pink is what is in the Prius, it is good for 100,000 miles.
    The old kind that you had to mix 50/50 with distilled water commonly referred to as "Toyota Red" was Toyota Long Life Coolant which is supposed to be changed every 30,000 miles if I remember correctly.
     
    #2 morpheusx, Oct 2, 2009
  3. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Is your Dad a Toyota engineer? Morph is right: don't use it, and don't let good ol' Dad pour some in when you're not looking.
     
    #3 richard schumacher, Oct 2, 2009
  4. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    For a while it was said that the newer SLLC "pink" was just the
    "red" 50/50 diluted for your convenience, but I doubt that's
    really the case and they likely are different formulations.
    Coolant chemistry has come a long way recently. I'm researching
    a bunch of good pointers about this for inclusion in an upcoming
    "100K maintenance" writeup, including test methodology.
    .
    You guys go through a lot of wine, huh?
    .
    _H*
     
    #4 hobbit, Oct 2, 2009
  5. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    Careful with those floor mats Kristi - you don't want to suffer from 'rug-in-a-bunch'
     
    #5 tochatihu, Oct 2, 2009
  6. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    I probably hit a half-bottle a night. It's the additional full bottle during the day that adds up.

    Kevin sticks to cervaza, mainly.
    K.
     
    #6 cyberpriusII, Oct 2, 2009
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The pink Super Long Life Coolant (SLLC) has been factory fill since 2003, so your dad's car must have been produced very early in the model year. The factory fill SLLC does not need replacing for the first 100K miles. Subsequent fills should be replaced at 50K miles (since not all of the old fluid comes out when you drain and refill.)

    A US gallon of pre-mixed SLLC should cost in the low $20 range at your friendly Toyota dealer, unless they are trying to make extra profit on parts and service sales since new car sales have dropped off.

    The pink SLLC should not be mixed with the red LLC. If it is, then the change interval will drop down to the spec for LLC, which is 30K mile intervals.
     
    #7 Patrick Wong, Oct 3, 2009
  8. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    All of you thanks, and Patrick especially thanks to you!

    So, it won't HURT anything if I put the "old school" coolant in. I will just have to change it sooner.

    That's what I needed to know <or more accurately wanted to know>!
     
    #8 cyberpriusII, Oct 3, 2009
  9. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Please let us know how it works.
     
    #9 richard schumacher, Oct 5, 2009
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