let me tell u: People want what they dont have.

I heard people say here they want red coolant just cause its red (toyota) honda is blue i think, its a dumb reason. It would be funny to spy on a honda or toyota site people saying they want Nissan green coolant just cause its green hehe

I got my whole cooling system power flushed with nissan long life coolant and i am happy with the results. the heater is so much hotter. Trust me dont cheap out on coolant, its not like u change it every 3 months. Im good for another 4 years at LEAST with Long Life.

havent you heard the horror stories how some people blow their rads using silicated and other dexcool coolants ?

 

Andrei,

I am not planning on going 3-4yrs even though I have Toyota red extended life coolant. Reason being is that I figure it is easier to just drain/fill annually now since I did the complete flush a yr ago. This way, I don't have to mess w/ multiple drains and tying up the car all afternoon and all and I will always have new coolant going in and old coming out. I will spend no more this way than if I do a complete flush after 3-4 yrs, and since coolant will lose its effectiveness, I will never have a system w/ a bunch of coolant that has lost its properties. Basic pt is that I will change annually instead of doing 4+ drains/fills in one afternoon or whatever. Keeps things regular, fresh, and easy!

 

Well thats one way to do it. You will definitely have refreshed coolant all the time. I got mine done at a big chain store. $100 for a full system flush and that includes the removal of the resevoir and cleaning that out as well, i think that spending 100 on this (+ the 40 dollars on coolant or whatnot) is worth it.

I never drained coolant myself and definitely never did the 4 flushes to drain the whole system, i think thats enough trouble to just spend the 100 once every several years and replace the coolant completely.

 

That's not too bad a price for a complete flush, but think about it...your fluid is ALL old at that time, and you have not allowed any bad buildup to be purged in 4yrs or so. My way, concentrations of poor quality fluid NEVER build up, and it costs just $12 or so, based upon $24/gal of coolant from the dealer and then I mix it 50/50.

 

yeah i know what u r saying man, you have a good point...

but let me say this then: what about disposing of old fluids, to be honest, i would nto even know where to go, and im sure its not free to get rid of it, please dont tell me u dump it in an empty grass field!!! but if u do this at a shop, u know that it will get disposed of properly and not harm the environment we all live in...

basically it also depends if u dont mind doing a little work yourself, i dont want to mix 50/50 solutions with my Long Life, so for me its easier to get it done at a shop (in canadian dollars too i might add).

This is a question of preference and convenience, there is no right or wrong answer, but if i ever decide to do this myself i will know who to contact for help...

 

around here it is a law that wherever you buy antifreeze or oil must dispose of it for you if you bring it back in the original container, but it is much much easier to just bring the empty bottles and the drain pan to the local dump, they have these nasty grimey shed thingy's that you pour the old oil or antifreeze into and they have a trash bin for the containers, it is free of charge of course. I'm sure every state/town/province whatever has similiar ordinances and recycling centers, you should NOT have to pay money to dispose of your own old oil, unless it is a shop's waste disposal fee, but that's because they have to pay for permits and stuff.

 

does the coolant in the reservior usually go down or should it stay at a set level? mines been going down, its a lil below min now. should i be worried about something?

 

well i know that if the car is cold the level MAY be down a little (no more than an inch from the normal level line) but when the car is hot it may be a little above the line

do u see a difference in level depending on the temperature of the engine ?

if its going missing on ya like as if there is a leak then thats obviously bad and is not supposed to be happening. Look into the resevoir, do u see any contaminants? if u see engine oil then thats a gasket leak and is not good because that means u have coolant in ur oil too, and coolant is not a lubricant hehe...

KRRZ350 : good to know cause i never knew that

 

Coolant IS a lubricant in that it lubricates the water pump internals, so I've been told...part of the reason many use Toyota/Honda/Nissan grades instead of cheaper other brands.

Your coolant level should be checked when the engine is cold, like in the morning. That level should always stay the same. If it is not, then you've got something else going on, so get an oil analysis and check for leaks on the floor, under the car, at the hoses, and also for areas that may not be wet but have been wet w/ coolant and maybe burned off. I don't know to what extent coolant will evaporate, but it has to be extremely minimal, if at all, since my level never changes...but my Caravan does !!

 

well, mine was at min, not sure if the previous owner left it there. i gotta check to see if its leaking. is it serious if its a little leak?

also, i want to just refill the reservior for now, and i have no clue what the previous owner used or know if he changed it. should i just put nissan oem coolant in there to be safe? what if he used something like prestone and i use nissan, any problems?

 

First of all, the "min" level is ok, but to be safe make sure it is at that level when the car is cold, not hot, since the level will go down as the car cools and if it is at min when hot, it is then too low and more should be added. Which brings up pt #2:

It is NOT recommended to add fluid of diff types. Will it harm the car? I don't know. I would think it wouldn't for a "short" period of time but I am really not sure how they all work together or won't work together...hard to say. That is why if I were you, I would add plain DISTILLED water to the reservoir to get the level to where it should be at, which is atleast the "min" level when the engine is cold. You won't have to add very much, maybe 1/2 qt at best, I would think, maybe less. Then, ya better bird-dog the leak and find it ASAP and watch that coolant level every day. Reason being is that you don't wanna keep on adding plain water to the car cause it lowers the concentration of antifreeze you'll have in the car. This can cause problems for you if the concentration gets too low. Assuming that your mixture was/is at a 50/50 dilution, then adding a bit of distilled water to the reservoir will not harm things. But, don't keep doing it in lieu of solving the leak, if you indeed have a leak. If the level stays stable, then great, no leak. If if keeps dropping, ya better find the leak since it will only get worse, and then you can flush the system of its old coolant and add new coolant, of which brand you will know, and can then feel great about knowing that you have not mixed fluids together.

Hope this helps.

 

thanks mike, this information helps alot. i will monitor it and see if its indeed leaking or the previous owner just left it at that.

 

For those who have used Toyota red, has anyone had any problems? Reading through this BITOG thread, half way down, this guy JohnBrowning claims that Toyota doesn't recommend red if it passes thru plastic parts in the system. I find that hard to believe, but just want to make sure. I'm flushing the coolant (since Saturday. Drain/fill with distilled at my convenience. I'm in no hurry) and have two gallons of red waiting on the sidelines.

 

I'm sure it's unrelated, but flushed with Toyota red two weeks ago and now I have a hairline crack in the radiator. Bad timing I guess.

The statement about it passing through plastic parts doesn't make any sense. Most Toyotas I've seen have plastic/aluminum radiators and certainly plastic resevoirs.

 

Flushed and filled 2 summers ago. No problems here.

 

Thanks. I figured that was BS. We would have heard of any issues long ago.

 

Finally got around to changing out the mostly water and some peak coolant that I had to use when I did my swap.

I installed a 350Z thermostat, which required using a new 4th gen hose (When I did the swap I had to cut the hose down to use the fwd vq35 thermostat, but the 350z has an outlet much like the 4th gen, doh!) Then put in a botle of water wetter, 25% toyota red, and bottled water........... Results: previously driving around on an 80* day my obdII scanner would usually be around 206*, now during those same conditions it is around 178*

 

Nice! What are you going to do if it gets down below zero this winter? I'd worry if the temp dropped even close to the supposed lower limit for a 25/75 mix of antifreeze/water.

 

That's a VERY good question!! Lol, worst case scenario: It freezes over bad enough to crack a block or head and I pick up another VQ35 and do the full swap sooner than expected, but I'm fairly confident that 25% antifreeze won't freeze over though even if it hits a little below zero. The reason I'm not to worried is because redline had a warning on the bottle recommending street vehicles not use less than 15% antifreeze and I'm running 25%........

 

My 98 Maxima with original rad is due for a flush. I am looking towrd the Toyota Red at Toyota but they do not also sell the quart or litre size for reason that I would like for any topups.

For those topups, am I OK with the Prestone green or which other campatibles are there?

 

You shold stick to a Jap made antifreeze: Nissan, Honda or Toyota. Don't want to mix different types of antifreeze in you cooling system. As I understand it, those three antifreezes are compatible with each other.

 

Whats the name of the radiator hoses? i want to change my thermo, top and down rad hoses. I just can't remember the name for the top one on my 97 max. It's shorter.

Btw, WHICH BRAND hoses do you guys recommend?

 

Upper radiator hose?

Just go to Autozone and ask for them there.

 

I got a 97, there is an upper (shorter one) from thermo to top rad and a lowerish one (longer).

I am nearing 90k and feel i should get this done.

 

I just purchased two gallons of Toyota Red from my local dealership. Cost me $21 a gallon. what a rip off. I expect extra horsepower for that price. Just kidding.

 

I paid around that same price. I bought 2 gallons alos. When I went to pay for them, I was shocked when they told me the total.

 

im a newbie, i just jumped in and post, is this any good?

 

It is not a Jap-made anti freeze. You should only use Jap-made in your Nissan. That is anti freeze sold by Nissan or Honda or Toyota.

 

^^ so im not suppose to use anything outside dealer regarding anti freeze?

 

Dude, did you READ what he said?

Go back and read it again. What he said was great advice.

Meaning you want a silicate free antifreeze. Getting one from the major Japanese manufacturers will ensure you get a silicate free antifreeze.

 

If you go through this complete thread, you will see that none of the other anti freezes on the market meet all of the specs that the Jap manufacturers require for their vehicles. If you only plan to keep your vehicle for a couple of years and then sell it, you will probably be ok with any cheap anti freeze. If you plan to keep it for a number of years, pay the extra money and buy the proper anti freeze -- you will be happy that you did.

 

The Prestone coolants that I've seen are silicate/phosphate/borate-free.

 

And Prestone is owned by Allied Signal who owns what? FRAM!

T'aint no WAY!

 

 

Nissan branded coolant is worth every penny...it's all I use in my cars (Max and Infiniti). I had used a "silicate-free" national brand in one of our older Nissans, and the water pump began leaking before the car had 60K on it.

 

Do the dealers use distilled, or just tap from the hose???


The Toyota Red (undiluted ) was $24.95 at a dealer here in Chicago (Continental in Countryside). At the Nissan dealer in NW IN, the green was $29.99. (and they couldn't guarantee it was the long life version.... and the Nissan dealer-Continental in Countryside also, didn't even know what I was talking about with the long life AF!!).

At the local Carquest --Crown Auto, in Crown Point--- They had the Toyota Red for ~$18 (17 and change), in stock. Crown Auto also had the Amsoil ATF and the 5W/30 in stock!! They carry the Redline Water Wetter, too.

 

I doubt it. Do it yourself and make sure its done correctly. This process is EASY. Its mostly sitting and drinking a beer while everything drains. The process in between drains takes like 5-8 minutes.


I put in Toyota Red (as I seem to be the only person on earth to get it 12.99 a gallon) and I know its japanese car ready and its not pre mixed.

 

A couple of years after I first posted in this thread, I finally changed my coolant. 95K on my car but I assume the previous owner had the coolant changed at 60K. The old coolant looked fine.

I did about six drains of the radiator over the past week. It's really easy and you don't have to sit around all day as long as you're doing this when the temps are above freezing. My method was to drain the radiator in the morning before I drove the car at all, allowing 20-30 mins for the rad to drain completely. Then I came back, put the drain plug back in, and filled with 3 to 3.5 quarts of distilled water (until the radiator started to overflow). Then I waited until I had driven the car (with heater set to high) to circulate the coolant and repeated the next day or so. By the fifth or sixth time the coolant I was draining was almost clear. I also rinsed the overflow reservoir a bit during the first drain.

Today I did the final drain and refilled the radiator with 3/4 bottle of Redline Water Wetter and 3+ quarts of Toyota Red antifreeze. I will fill up the reservoir with a 50/50 ratio and test the coolant tomorrow. It should end up being a bit less than 50% antifreeze but it'll be fine for the summer at least.

One thing I noticed while driving in 85°+ humid air today: the coolant guage was fluctuating every minute or so...it would start out on the cool side then go way up to the high side briefly. I could see the needle slowly moving as I was driving. I got a little worried but then I realized that this was simply because the antifreeze wasn't mixed well yet...so everytime the antifreeze passed the engine it was taking less heat from the engine (since water can hold much more heat than AF). By the end of the drive the coolant seemed to have mixed better as the temp gauge was stable.

Thanks to everyone who gave tips in this thread!

 

I did a flush last night using the flush and fill method here. Couple points of interest....

I went and bought Toyota Long Life red antifreeze ($21.99/gal = sucks). The normal long life toyota red which I bought is not premixed, however the "Super Long Life" toyota pink will cost you over $30/gal. is premixed. So I guess they are charging 10 extra bucks for half the antifreeze I bought 10 gallons of distilled water.

Started draining and filling, but I noticed that the heat was not getting hot during the first few fills even after 10 minutes of idling. So i decided to take the car for a little ride and less that a 1/4 mile down the road the heat got plenty hot. Doing this for each fill will greatly reduce your time to get the distilled water circulating. I would fill, drive 1/4 mile up the street and back, then let it idle for a few minutes, then drain.

Everything was going fine until i went to remove the drain plug one of the times and the philips head teeth on the plug stripped (#$&@!!!! %#^@!!!! %#$@!!!!!!). Just a word of advice, dont tighten the plug too tight between drains and be careful not to strip the soft plug. Dealers do not stock the drain plugs. Luckily I got it loose using a larger philips head, and it had enough teeth to finish the job. I have one on order though and will replace it later this week.

It took a good 7 drain-and-fills to get it pretty clear, but I did one more because i am **** and it came out crystal clear. So ~8.5 gallons of water did it for me.

When calculating how much antifreeze to add to the distilled water in the block ('03 maxima), the book says the system capacity is 8 1/8 quarts including reservoir. The reservoir is 7/8 quarts, which leaves 7 1/4 quarts in the radiator, hoses and engine block. Therefore, just over 3.5 quarts of antifreeze (non premixed) will give you a 50/50. So thats what I put in and topped off with distilled water. Then filled the reservoir (cleaned and empty) with a 50/50 mix.

That was my experience and so hopefully someone here might be able to use something in this rambling of a post.

 

Thanks for the info. I will be doing this in September and find your info very useful. I only have 6 gallons of distilled water (bought on sale) so I will need 2 more. I also don't think it matters whether you use Nissan, Honda or Toyota antifreeze. I will be buying the cheapest of these three.