Normally, I would do exactly that, John, but the circumstances here are unusual.
We have had this vehicle in our family since 2004 – it’s a 2002 1.0Gls with just 34,000 miles and it has been an excellent little motor. The last time I changed the coolant I just opened the drain plug on the rad, so there is no need to remove the bottom hose. The old coolant was blue stuff and I replaced this at the time with more of the blue stuff, otherwise known as
Comma Coldmaster. The problem is that recently I became aware that all of these motors take the red stuff, otherwise known as
Toyota Long Life Pre-mixed or something similar and the two different types of coolant should not be mixed. This issue was covered in the January edition of
Car Mechanics where they made clear the long-term complications that can manifest with using the wrong type of coolant. God knows how our motor ever got the incorrect appellation in originally – we bought the car from our local Toyota dealer with a full service history and there is no detail of any work on the cooling system being undertaken prior to our ownership. (I guess previously I did not worry
too much about completely removing the old coolant as it looked very clean and was being replaced with a product of similar spec).
So this time round, then, it has been essential to remove as much as is possible from the system, hence the removal of the plug from the block. About another 1.5 litres emerged from the block. It was a bit of a palaver to get out actually, as access is made complex by the exhaust manifold. I had to carefully position a compact ratchet with 17mm socket and tap a bit of old steel tube gently with a hammer.
Anyway thanks a lot for your comment though I do not have any
Hylomar. Would it be unwise then to use the PTFE without this? Getting to an auto-shop is not so easy here (Suffolk coast) as for the next couple of days I am on my own with the laid-up Yaris. Bµgger.
