flushing radiator

[Chris25NJ]

Anyone know if there is a drain plug on the bottom of the radiator for flushing? Or do we have to do it the old fashioned way and remove the lower radiator hose? (which always creates a big mess)

[kpsilverman]

There is a drain plug on the bottom of side of the radiator and also a plug on the engine coolant union.

[Chris25NJ]

I imagine both should be opened to drain the system completely? Can you give more info on where these plugs are? Which side of the radiator? Where is the coolant union? Near the water pump? Thanks.

[JaySong]

I also need to drain out mine and have been trying to for awhile but I've foudn the radiator one(which is visible when u look down at it as you stand looking into your engine. It is a white plastic twist screw.) but have not been able to locate the one at the engine coolant union as indicated bydiagram in the repair manual. I just don't see it.

[SC3]

I am still waiting for my Repair manual to arrive. Dealer told me that the radiator plug is on the "driver side" (left side) and that I would need a very large pan since he told me that it was to be very messy.

Is it possible to channel the fluid through a rubber hose, as to avoid a mess?

[Chris25NJ]

Well I plan on flushing mine this sunday, so I'll let you know how it goes. Should I just go and get the anti-freeze from toyota or elsewhere? Anyone know what kind of anti-freeze we are supposed to use? I know it's the red and not the green, but are there different types of red?

I know it's gonna be messy, but there's not much you can do about it. I've done this on past cars and it's always messy. However, I never had a drain plug before, always had to just take off the lower radiator hose. So that should be cool.

So here's what I plan on doing. Drain as much as I can from the radiator drain plug. Going to have to put the plug back in while i'm draining to drain the pan i'm going to use. I know it won't hold it all. Then I'll look for that coolant union plug. I'm guessing it's a T intersection with a cap on the bottom somewhere near the water pump. Then I'm gonna put the plugs back in and fill the radiator with water. Start the car up and let it run for a few minutes. (Long enough so the thermostat opens and the water cycles through the engine) Then drain it completely again and fill with anti-freeze. If the water looks really nasty I might fill it with water again.

I'ld really like to know where that coolant union is so that I can drain out all the water possible before adding the new anti-freeze.

In the past I've used those kits where you run the engine with a hose running to cycle water, but that's really messy.

If anyone's done this please give me some tips!!!

[Chris25NJ]

One more thing, how many gallons of anti-freeze do we need to fill it?

[Chris25NJ]

Hey JaySong, don't feel bad about not seeing it. I still can't find the damn PCV valve. I've been posting for like 3 months asking about it, and nobody knows, which I don't understand. Where abouts is the coolant union? I have a feeling I'll never find it since I haven't even seen any diagrams.

What repair manual do you have? Can you look and see where the PCV valve is for me? Usually it's just sticking out of the valve cover right smack in front of your face, but since we have overhead cams, its not so obvious. And it screws in, which leads me to believe it's in a funky place. I wonder when Chiltons is gonna get around to releasing a manual for 00+ Celicas. Not having a manual is killing me.

[SC3]

Chris25NJ,

Your car (6 spd GTS):

6.2 US quarts = 1.55 gallons of 50/50 Ethylene Glycol and Water

Correct me if I am wrong anyone, but I believe that putting antifreeze other than the Toyota Red stuff may cause foaming in the cooling system.

Also, does anyone know where the engine coolant drain plug is?


SC3

[00 scrub]

Doesn't the owners manual for the car say that only Toyota red coolant should be use din the car? I thought I saw that in the self-maintinance section of the book.

[Chris25NJ]

I think i'm gonna stick with Toyota's antifreeze, i'm gonna stop by the dealer tomorrow and pick it up. I'm also gonna ask around there about the PCV valve and where the drain plugs are.

[BoyRacer]

LoL. i can tell none of you ever owned or worked on an older car before. hehe funny. you guys want to flush the system or just drain it? oh i wouldnt advise taking the hose off. look for the plug on the bottom of the radiator

[Chris25NJ]

Yeah i did it yesterday. Drained from the wing-nut drain valve and refilled. Simple as all hell. I've done it many times before in different cars, but there is so much talk about it around here, people making it sound so difficult, that I just wanted to make sure I had all the info I needed.

The only tricky part is filling it back up. haah. But I had some help from RXvedub with that. It explains how to do it under the hood, but it still is unclear until you do it at least once.

[marcus_GTS]

Chris, I looked at the refill procedure yesterday, and there's one thing I can't figure out. It says to remove the two hoses at the corner of the plastic tank and put them on the air cleaner. Are there locations where you plug the hoses in, or do you just put them on the air cleaner so that they're out of the way?

[RXvedub]

Hey guys,
I am the one who helped chris with his coolant. I am an ex-topyota now \lexus tecnicion. If any one neads any help or sugestions call me at 818 535 0101 I am on the west coast.
Yes, use the toyota coolant. The quality is better plus it looks cool. You dont want to mixs the red whith the yellow.

Also there is absolutly no way to get ALL the old stuff out of the system, just not possible on the Celica cooling system design.

Like I said any questions let me know.

Shant

BTW, If you dont bleed the system correctly you will overheat... I gaurenty it because I did.

[Chris25NJ]

marcus_GTS, don't remove any hoses. I know it's confusing, but I think it's just saying to pop them out of the little brackets that are holding them in neatly away from the fan. I have a CAI so without the stock airbox, I know it was pretty easy since I have lots of room to work with. I'm sure with the stock airbox in the way it'll be a bitch. Anyway I didn't remove any hoses. At first I did remove a hose, but it didn't seem to be draining into the engine properly so I put it back on. Also you'll have to stretch the hoses to make it fit over the hood latch. Just make sure you don't pop any hoses off. Or you'll prob splash coolant all over the place. Just make sure you have the resivoir tilted so that the the lower hose (rightmost) is lower than the one next to it (to it's left). You need it to drain into the rightmost hose, and have the next one able to breath, or it won't drain into the radiator. You really just need to do it to fully understand. If you have any problems call RXvedub or myself (201-446-4624) i'm on the east coast, call anytime i'm a night owl. Make sure you close the wingnut on the radiator before filling, and leave the breather on the resivoir open so that it can breath while filling. Just pour slowly so it doesn't overflow.

Ok that's filling it up. Here's draining just incase you're unsure. On the right side of the radiator near the bottom there is a white wingnut. (look from the top standing in front of the car) Put a pan under the car (enough to hold 1.5 gallons or so) loosen the wingnut, but don't take it out. (it'll be a bitch to get back in) Then when you open the breather on the resivoir it'll flow out pretty fast.

Just drain and fill, easy enough. I was gonna flush with water, but as RXvedub said, you will not be able to get all the water out before adding new coolant. So don't bother.

[Bluemica]

and how do we bleed the system again? is it the same as what is under the hood label? or should i take out the right (top most big tube) tube out and pour antifreeze in there and plug it back up and continue filling?

[YaNg^_^GuY]

Well I plan on flushing mine this sunday, so I'll let you know how it goes. Should I just go and get the anti-freeze from toyota or elsewhere? Anyone know what kind of anti-freeze we are supposed to use? I know it's the red and not the green, but are there different types of red?

I know it's gonna be messy, but there's not much you can do about it. I've done this on past cars and it's always messy. However, I never had a drain plug before, always had to just take off the lower radiator hose. So that should be cool.

So here's what I plan on doing. Drain as much as I can from the radiator drain plug. Going to have to put the plug back in while i'm draining to drain the pan i'm going to use. I know it won't hold it all. Then I'll look for that coolant union plug. I'm guessing it's a T intersection with a cap on the bottom somewhere near the water pump. Then I'm gonna put the plugs back in and fill the radiator with water. Start the car up and let it run for a few minutes. (Long enough so the thermostat opens and the water cycles through the engine) Then drain it completely again and fill with anti-freeze. If the water looks really nasty I might fill it with water again.

I'ld really like to know where that coolant union is so that I can drain out all the water possible before adding the new anti-freeze.

In the past I've used those kits where you run the engine with a hose running to cycle water, but that's really messy.

If anyone's done this please give me some tips!!!

I've done a lot of work with the radiator before. right now, I'm pushing a Koyo Racing Radiator and it holds up to about 2 gallons of collant. if you plan on draining the coolant, you're going to have to do it with all of the hoses if you're not planning on finding the drainage plug. and the coolant though, you could pretty much use anything that is at least 50/50 mix and allotable for other kinds of coolant. the Toyota OEM one is only preferable because they come with that sylicone stuff that suppose to make your coolant last longer. it's also suppose to lube and protect the tubing and all this other crazy stuff, but I haven't really seen any difference with how it performs when you're driving anyways. granted, I have a bigger radiator and my car doesn't hardly heat up at all, but yeah. if you're going to draing your radiator via the hose, be sure to do all four of them.

replacing the coolant is very easy too. be sure not to get an air pocket in the radiator, and you could fill it right from the resevior tank. if not and you notice that it's not going in, you could also fill it from small right coolant hose using a tubed-funnel. I ran into that problem a few times too. so yeah.

Later,
Kou

[YaNg^_^GuY]

One more thing, how many gallons of anti-freeze do we need to fill it?

OEM radiators holds up to about a gallon of coolant. be on the safe side and send an extra $10 on another bottle!

[Vulcan2422]

Jeez talk about bringing up a dead post from 02!