Coolant levels recomendations?
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Scikotics
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From: Shh! It's Sleeping!
Coolant levels recomendations?
So I have to go and replace my coolant temp sesor as it thinks my water temp is 283F all the damn time and i was wondering.
How much coolant does the system hold?
what kind should i replace it with?
How much coolant does the system hold?
what kind should i replace it with?
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Unique Scionikz
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From: Duarte, California
Not sure how much coolant it holds, but only use Toyota Long Life (the redish/pink coolant). Don't buy the "for all makes and models" generic coolant.
The bigger black bottle in this pic. U can pick it up from AutoZone or a Dealership.
The bigger black bottle in this pic. U can pick it up from AutoZone or a Dealership.
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Scinergy
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yes.. use the pink/red toyota coolant.
the a/t has a 7.1 qt capacity
m/t has 7.2 qt.
do not use plain water alone.. and the info is located in your manual.... so uhh.. rtfm.
as quoted from...
the a/t has a 7.1 qt capacity
m/t has 7.2 qt.
do not use plain water alone.. and the info is located in your manual.... so uhh.. rtfm.
as quoted from...
Originally Posted by YOUR OWNER'S MANUAL
Coolant type:
“Toyota Super Long Life Coolant” is
used in your Scion vehicle at factory fill.
In order to avoid technical problems,
only use “Toyota Super Long Life Coolant”
or similar high quality ethylene glycol
based non–silicate, non–amine,
non–nitrite, and non–borate coolant with
long–life hybrid organic acid technology.
(Coolant with long–life hybrid organic
acid technology is a combination of low
phosphates and organic acids.)
Do not use plain water alone.
“Toyota Super Long Life Coolant” is
used in your Scion vehicle at factory fill.
In order to avoid technical problems,
only use “Toyota Super Long Life Coolant”
or similar high quality ethylene glycol
based non–silicate, non–amine,
non–nitrite, and non–borate coolant with
long–life hybrid organic acid technology.
(Coolant with long–life hybrid organic
acid technology is a combination of low
phosphates and organic acids.)
Do not use plain water alone.
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Scikotics
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From: Minneapolis, MN
Before replacing your sensor, unplug the harness from it and look at the temp gauge. Then short the sensor connections and look at it again. It should change dramatically. If it does, then yes, your sensor is most likely bad. If the gauge does not move, you have an issue somewhere else. As I always try to preach, ALWAYS troubleshoot before replacing parts, more times than not you will replace more than one part that you didnt need to if you dont. Troubleshooting is what seperates a parts replacer (you know, read the code, replace a part till the code goes away) from a technician. 
And as mentioned, either use the toyota coolant premix, or use a good coolant with DISTILLED water, not tap water. Using other coolant is not a bad thing if you use good stuff and mix with distilled water. But you may as well use the toyo stuff.
For those wondering, there are two reasons to use distilled water. For one, it will not create mineral buildups over time like tap water will. For another, it has almost an infinite resistance (pure water will conduct almost no current at all.. it will technically, but for all intents and purposes you can consider it an open circuit). Tap water helps to act like dirty coolant, which can help set up electrolysis, especially if you have a bad ground in the right place. This creates a corrosive element which can attack the alluminum elements in your cooling system, including your engine. Heater cores are one of the first things that go in this situation. I have seen some ford pickups go through 3 -4 heater cores in a couple of years until someone figured out the bad ground and started using good, clean coolant and distilled water.
Sorry for the long winded answer.. but it seemed to be applicable here
And as mentioned, either use the toyota coolant premix, or use a good coolant with DISTILLED water, not tap water. Using other coolant is not a bad thing if you use good stuff and mix with distilled water. But you may as well use the toyo stuff.
For those wondering, there are two reasons to use distilled water. For one, it will not create mineral buildups over time like tap water will. For another, it has almost an infinite resistance (pure water will conduct almost no current at all.. it will technically, but for all intents and purposes you can consider it an open circuit). Tap water helps to act like dirty coolant, which can help set up electrolysis, especially if you have a bad ground in the right place. This creates a corrosive element which can attack the alluminum elements in your cooling system, including your engine. Heater cores are one of the first things that go in this situation. I have seen some ford pickups go through 3 -4 heater cores in a couple of years until someone figured out the bad ground and started using good, clean coolant and distilled water.
Sorry for the long winded answer.. but it seemed to be applicable here
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Originally Posted by engifineer
Troubleshooting is what seperates a parts replacer (you know, read the code, replace a part till the code goes away) from a technician.
.. so true! so true!! hmm... though i would have to say on the mechanical side of things... sometimes you do have to replace to figure out what's wrong...
ehh...
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Scikotics
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From: Shh! It's Sleeping!
Originally Posted by engifineer
Before replacing your sensor, unplug the harness from it and look at the temp gauge. Then short the sensor connections and look at it again. It should change dramatically. If it does, then yes, your sensor is most likely bad.
And should I have the car up to operating temp before doing this?
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