Remember the "coolant" for your motor is the water, the antifreeze is just what is says, in the summer you should run a 60/40 water/antifreeze. In winter you need 50/50 to prevent the water from freezing. So if you are just to top off you coolant add distilled water, you can go to walmart and buy a gallon for 64 cents. The reason to not add tap, is for reasons your tap water has stuff that can build up in the motor after cooling and heating water. In my area the water is hard as heck so you start to get lime build up on the head gaskets and thermostat. So please use distilled water it will save your cooling system.

so your saying if im just trying to top off my resivoir i should get distilled water. why not just use the coolant that you can add to any color or make or model? i mean i have some coolant i can use for that. thats what im wondering instead of buying coolant can i just add the antifreeze that is made for any make or model and can be added to any color?

you can add the 50/50 mix antifreeze to top it off, you could add plain strait antifreeze but you will start to run hotter, because antifreeze is not a coolant. Distilled water is 64 cents vs. a 8$ bottle of 50/50 mix antifreeze.

no reason i asked i have a bottle of/ 50/50 here that i used for another car that said you could add to any make model or any color antifreeze so i couldnt be paying anything for it. reason i asked.

I am highly against those mix with any color antifreeze. There are times when I see them do more damage than good.

well i mean i still have pink antifreeze in there. i just want to top off the resivoir mainly is waht im looking to do. reason im asking

you guys are turning this into rocket science. if you just have to top it off a little, just add water, distilled or not. it won't kill your motor. as for the "universal" stuff, i wouldn't use it, i can't say that its good or bad but i would just stick with oe.
also, its antifreeze/ COOLANT, water alone doen't keep your motor cool, the coolant raises the boiling point so that the water won't over heat. and if you drain and refill your system with pink coolant, don't add water, get 2 gal. of pink and only use that because its premixed.

I've topped off with the "mix with anything" stuff and been good so far. As long as it's not hard water you are throwing in there, you should be fine. I don't believe in running a car 100k with the same coolant. Same with the spark plugs. And the new 7000 mile oil change intervals with some manufacturers. The old ways are embedded into me. Nothing I can do about it I guess. lol

I am bringing up another thread as I now have questions about Coolant. I have a 2006 xb. I am not sure what I should be using in it as far as coolant (or antifreeze) goes. I live in an area that freezes in the winter and blazes in the summer. I know it has to be the pink coolant (at least that is what Toyota told me) but am wondering if I can order online.? I am going to change it as I just bought him and want to start fresh with everything I possibly can (so I know things were actually done).

Also, can someone tell me how to post a new thread on here so I can just gather all my questions I am not finding answers for and post them all at once?
Once again thanks for any and all help you can give me.

Marshall

I am going to try this again in hopes someone can answer me. Where can I buy the Pink antifreeze that is equivelent to the toyota brand. I do not want to use the green. I have searched online and have found some that say they are, but would rather find out from another xb owner what they use and where to get it. Thanks for any help you can give me.

Marshall

Pink coolant is just Toyota's "life time" coolant. You can buy universal coolant; it will work just fine. As far as mixing, it will be fine to mix the coolants, HOWEVER some manufacturer coolant mixed with other manufacturer coolant can turn to sludge. Some might say its better to be safe than sorry and perform a dedicated reverse flow flush (Make sure the tech turns your car on with the heater on to flush out your heater core.)
Even though they advertise "life time" coolant you should still flush it every TWO years. The coolant corrodes our aluminum blocks. The cheaper alternative is to visist you local auto parts store and purchase a PH test; add the right additives so that the ph level is slightly alkaline.

AUTOZONE is da best :)

For toping it off, just spend the $1 to get distilled. City tap water has chlorine in it, which is bad for aluminum, and well water as lime and calcium that can clog water passages.

Try not to mix coolants, you don't need a chemical flush but you should run distilled water through a couple of times when changing. I wanted blue for a killerglass setup and switched to Engine Ice, but when I switched I filled completely with distilled water, rand the engine until hot, then drained it. Did this about 3 times until the water was clear before adding the engine ice.

Just stick with Toyota if you don't need a different color for visuals.

Bite the bullet and get the Toyota stuff from the dealer - it is pink - premixed and expensive but what is your engine worth? You probably don't even need it yet as they say it is good for 100k miles I think - it also has sealant in it so that if you spring a leak it plugs it up. I got a gallon for about $17 at the dealer which is $34 unmixed price for conventional but hey it's worth it. If the stuff is clean in your expansion tank it should be good . . . if it starts to stink and turn colors then time to change it. I have a 2006 xB and don't plan on changing it anytime soon. It has corrosion inhibitors pump lubricant and antifreeze/antiboil properties - I don't think anyone here is smarter than the engineers at Toyota that specified this stuff.

You aren't supposed to top it off with water because the Toyota 'pink' antifreeze is already a 50/50 mix. Adding water would further dilute the 50% mix.

If you are only topping off you are fine to drive until you get to a dealership. They will always have it in stock at every Toyota parts counter in the country. Remember the coolant tank is an overflow tank, there is plenty of coolant in the radiator. Also your coolant levels will be lower while the car is cool and rise when the car is warm so it may not be necessary to add any at all.

You shouldn't be adding anything to it but what's already there.

You guys do realize there is a bit of leeway here with the coolant.

You CAN run striaght water, but you will ruin the block in sub 32 degree temperatures.

You CAN run straight anti-freeze, but you better have one heck of a fan for it.

A 50/50 mix is "ideal" NOT MANDATORY.

Trust me, done this with MULTIPLE vehicles, just add water to fill it up. I add universal prestone(pennzoil, not sure which) to the top, was less then a quart and my reservoir was empty.

So even filling your reservoir with water will not alter the mixture enough to cause damage...

I have added distilled water to mine because some how my cap came off and alittle came out so topped it off and it defiantly had no negative effect.

The yellow coolant is fine to use in the tc. any others not a good idea. The radiator cap is what keeps the water from boiling out by incressing the presure in the system plus a proper working system. When the resivor is low you can just use water. prefurebly destilled but a little tap won't hurt.

I know this is an old thread but NAPA auto parts sells Valvoline ZEREX Asian Car Formula, which specifically says on the back that it meets Scion requirements.

Yes i was just going to mention ZEREX, good product and is made for toyos