hi all,

planning to change the coolant for my vios and here are the steps that i have in mind:
1) open the radiator drain plug and drain off the coolant from the radiator
2) empty the coolant in the reservoir
3) close the drain plug
4) fill in distilled water into the radiator and reservoir
5) start the engine and let the water circulate for a few minutes
6) stop the engine, open the drain plug, drain the water from the radiator
7) repeat steps 3 to 6 a few times until the drain water is clean
8) then finally fill in the coolant mixture into the radiator and reservoir

may i know are the above steps correct for a coolant change?

thanks

I'd say tap water is good enough for the 1st few flushes, use distilled water for the last flush and final top up, unless if the tap water in your area is dirty.

For the last step, after you've tightened the draining nut, 1st pour in the coolant, before topping up with distilled water. This way, you won't overfill with distilled water and leaving not enough space for the coolant, and needing u to unscrew the drain nut again!

It's also a good idea to spend just a bit more on extended/long-life coolants like those from Toyota or Caltex to minimise hassles and maximise protection.

thanks. yes, i've just bought 2 liters of long life coolant.

also any idea how can i remove any air trapped in the system, if any?

btw, do u know where is the drain but located? if i stand in front of the car, looking at the engine, will it be on the right, left or middle?

no need to worry trapped air .when everything is hot. the radiator will suck some water from reservoir. and air going to the reservoir tank..

vios owner also need to diy..vios owner all very rich wat? drive TOYOTA also need diy

walau..that person drive a toyota

haha... that's funny

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Added on September 30, 2008, 8:21 amthanks. any idea how to fully empty the tank as it has no drain point? do i need to remove the tank and pour the old coolant away?


This post has been edited by atah: Sep 30 2008, 08:21 AM

i own vios too, if you don't wish to remove the reservoir then u can try this:

when u flush the radiator, flush the reservoir as well, the excess water will overflow from the top since there is no drain point... then close the radiator drain plug and fill with water..... starts the engine and run it for few minutes until the engine is really hot..... then remove the radiator drain plug and water will flow out and you can see the water in the reservoir will be sucked out as well

many thanks. by flushing the reservoir, do u mean by putting the water hose into the reservoir and let the water flush out the coolant?

also after running the engine hot, do i need to stop the engine before draining the radiator?

how much coolant do u use for vios? 50/50 or only 1 liter?

btw, where's the location of the radiator drain?

thanks again

Yes, until you see the water inside is clear

Yes, off the engine... becareful when remove the drain plug, will kena your hand a bit...

I use only 1 litre + distilled water. But I think most people use 2 litre coolant.

Very hard to explain . you need to remove the stock air ram to reach the drain plug. Or you can jack up your front right tire, stretch your hand through the fender gap, bypass a pipe (I think is aircon pipe) then can reach the drain plug.... but if you got big hand and arm then susah abit

thx, but where is the air ram located??

me also DIY for my dad's car vios,my satria n kancil n my sis's wira~
so no big deal rite? ?

Don't do the draining or flushing while the engine is still hot! Do it while it's just warm or after cooling off for a while. You don't want the hot coolant to spill onto any part of your body!

Usually the drain plug will be somewhere near the bottom middle part of the radiator.

If you have the proper tools to unscrew and take out the reservoir tank, u can do so and pour out the old coolant and wash it.

Air ram is the air intake pipe connected from the airbox and ends at somewhere near the fog lamp, black color one.


Esky is right, when engine is hot and u open the radiator cap then it will be like fountain

But what I meant is the process after that, meaning you have drain the radiator coolant and have refilled with water. Then you can warm up the engine again to become hot then remove the drain plug only. Of coz there are some chances of getting your hand kena hot water when removing the drain plug. Best still remove the reservoir which I never done before.

ok, 1 more question. when you open the drain plug, do u take out the whole plug, or just loosen it?

Removing it from the draining hole is better, as just loosening it may trap some larger particles (like rust) inside it.

my house filter water is it distilled water?

or those battery water?

Filtered water is not distilled water, but is already much better than unfiltered tap water lah. Yes, battery water is distilled water. Reverse osmosis (RO) filtered water is also not bad.

tried to loosen the drain nut but it was very tight. just to confirm, is it counter-clockwise to loosen it? also is the nut made of plastic? am afraid of breaking it if turn it in wrong direction. thanks

Yes, vios one made of plastic.

Yes, clockwise to tighten and anti clockwise to loosen.

Try unscrewing it when engine is a bit warm, hopefully the heat will expand things and loosen the screw slightly.

This is for 1NZ-FE engine

can some one put up a pic by pic tutorial...i'm new to cars...
pls..