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From: dsi1 on 27 Sep 2009 05:11
Leftie wrote:

> I appreciate your willingness to respond, but this is really a
> question for the more knowledgeable people here - especially the techs.
> The red Toyota AF has a different formulation than the usual green stuff.

I'd sure be interested to know if green and red AF makes sludge too -
hopefully, someone will know. My bet however, is that your sludge is
caused the old fashioned way - an internal engine leak.
From: Jason James on 27 Sep 2009 17:42

"Leftie" <No(a)Thanks.net> wrote in message
news:tuuvm.230594$0e4.144498(a)newsfe19.iad...
> We had the water pump and timing belt done on our '95 wagon last year.
> The parts were aftermarket, not Toyota, but we asked for Toyota coolant.
> Now it appears they used the regular green stuff. The car is behaving ok,
> but the reservoir is nearly empty (this *may* be normal evaporation)

Fill it to the required level and monitor it. Their is probably a small
weepage amongst one of the hoses. Make sure any worm-drive hose-clips are
tight, if the leak is on a hose that has a spring-clip, then the alloy
engine fitting may have corrosian denying a clean smooth surface for the
hose to seal on. Replace spring-clips with worm-drive ones. If it still uses
coolant, then a slow headgasket leak could be indicated. A quality stop-leak
used *as directed* can work here.


and there is a red scum in the reservoir. Do we have it
> power flushed with the original radiator still there, or not? Red coolant
> or green?

Power flushing and active scourers are a bad idea IMHO. Any dislodged rust
just collects in the finer water-passages and radiator. If you must, dont do
it with the radiator in circuit,..it will just block-up. Reverse-flush the
rad by putting a hose in the top hole and allowing the bottom hole to drain.

Jason


From: Leftie on 27 Sep 2009 19:06
Jason James wrote:
> "Leftie" <No(a)Thanks.net> wrote in message
> news:tuuvm.230594$0e4.144498(a)newsfe19.iad...
>> We had the water pump and timing belt done on our '95 wagon last year.
>> The parts were aftermarket, not Toyota, but we asked for Toyota coolant.
>> Now it appears they used the regular green stuff. The car is behaving ok,
>> but the reservoir is nearly empty (this *may* be normal evaporation)
>
> Fill it to the required level and monitor it. Their is probably a small
> weepage amongst one of the hoses. Make sure any worm-drive hose-clips are
> tight, if the leak is on a hose that has a spring-clip, then the alloy
> engine fitting may have corrosian denying a clean smooth surface for the
> hose to seal on. Replace spring-clips with worm-drive ones. If it still uses
> coolant, then a slow headgasket leak could be indicated. A quality stop-leak
> used *as directed* can work here.
>
>
> and there is a red scum in the reservoir. Do we have it
>> power flushed with the original radiator still there, or not? Red coolant
>> or green?
>
> Power flushing and active scourers are a bad idea IMHO. Any dislodged rust
> just collects in the finer water-passages and radiator. If you must, dont do
> it with the radiator in circuit,..it will just block-up. Reverse-flush the
> rad by putting a hose in the top hole and allowing the bottom hole to drain.
>
> Jason
>
>

I'm not inclined to have the radiator flushed at all. It seems
unlikely that the head gasket is leaking: the car gets light use (which
is why the reservoir wasn't checked recently) and has not overheated.
I'm concerned that maybe the "new" water pump may be leaking, and I'm
concerned about the red scum. Which, BTW, is the same color as Toyota
coolant...

So, Toyota techs and hardcore shade tree mechanics: is it safe to
leave the green coolant in, and add more after cleaning the reservoir?
Is the Toyota water pump the only reason the red coolant was used?
From: Jason James on 27 Sep 2009 18:45

"Leftie" <No(a)Thanks.net> wrote in message
news:RpRvm.208560$sC1.87354(a)newsfe17.iad...
> Jason James wrote:
>> "Leftie" <No(a)Thanks.net> wrote in message
>> news:tuuvm.230594$0e4.144498(a)newsfe19.iad...
>>> We had the water pump and timing belt done on our '95 wagon last
>>> year. The parts were aftermarket, not Toyota, but we asked for Toyota
>>> coolant. Now it appears they used the regular green stuff. The car is
>>> behaving ok, but the reservoir is nearly empty (this *may* be normal
>>> evaporation)
>>
>> Fill it to the required level and monitor it. Their is probably a small
>> weepage amongst one of the hoses. Make sure any worm-drive hose-clips are
>> tight, if the leak is on a hose that has a spring-clip, then the alloy
>> engine fitting may have corrosian denying a clean smooth surface for the
>> hose to seal on. Replace spring-clips with worm-drive ones. If it still
>> uses coolant, then a slow headgasket leak could be indicated. A quality
>> stop-leak used *as directed* can work here.
>>
>>
>> and there is a red scum in the reservoir. Do we have it
>>> power flushed with the original radiator still there, or not? Red
>>> coolant or green?
>>
>> Power flushing and active scourers are a bad idea IMHO. Any dislodged
>> rust just collects in the finer water-passages and radiator. If you must,
>> dont do it with the radiator in circuit,..it will just block-up.
>> Reverse-flush the rad by putting a hose in the top hole and allowing the
>> bottom hole to drain.
>>
>> Jason
>>
>>
>
> I'm not inclined to have the radiator flushed at all. It seems unlikely
> that the head gasket is leaking: the car gets light use (which is why the
> reservoir wasn't checked recently) and has not overheated. I'm concerned
> that maybe the "new" water pump may be leaking, and I'm concerned about
> the red scum. Which, BTW, is the same color as Toyota coolant...
>
> So, Toyota techs and hardcore shade tree mechanics: is it safe to leave
> the green coolant in, and add more after cleaning the reservoir? Is the
> Toyota water pump the only reason the red coolant was used?

Check this site out:

http://wiki.seloc.org/a/Coolant

If the 2 coolants you're referring to, both use Glycol as the major
ingredient, mixing *may* be OK. Try and find-out which one the mechanic was
using compared to the Toyota stuff.

Jason


From: Leftie on 27 Sep 2009 21:13
Jason James wrote:
> "Leftie" <No(a)Thanks.net> wrote in message
> news:RpRvm.208560$sC1.87354(a)newsfe17.iad...
>> Jason James wrote:
>>> "Leftie" <No(a)Thanks.net> wrote in message
>>> news:tuuvm.230594$0e4.144498(a)newsfe19.iad...
>>>> We had the water pump and timing belt done on our '95 wagon last
>>>> year. The parts were aftermarket, not Toyota, but we asked for Toyota
>>>> coolant. Now it appears they used the regular green stuff. The car is
>>>> behaving ok, but the reservoir is nearly empty (this *may* be normal
>>>> evaporation)
>>> Fill it to the required level and monitor it. Their is probably a small
>>> weepage amongst one of the hoses. Make sure any worm-drive hose-clips are
>>> tight, if the leak is on a hose that has a spring-clip, then the alloy
>>> engine fitting may have corrosian denying a clean smooth surface for the
>>> hose to seal on. Replace spring-clips with worm-drive ones. If it still
>>> uses coolant, then a slow headgasket leak could be indicated. A quality
>>> stop-leak used *as directed* can work here.
>>>
>>>
>>> and there is a red scum in the reservoir. Do we have it
>>>> power flushed with the original radiator still there, or not? Red
>>>> coolant or green?
>>> Power flushing and active scourers are a bad idea IMHO. Any dislodged
>>> rust just collects in the finer water-passages and radiator. If you must,
>>> dont do it with the radiator in circuit,..it will just block-up.
>>> Reverse-flush the rad by putting a hose in the top hole and allowing the
>>> bottom hole to drain.
>>>
>>> Jason
>>>
>>>
>> I'm not inclined to have the radiator flushed at all. It seems unlikely
>> that the head gasket is leaking: the car gets light use (which is why the
>> reservoir wasn't checked recently) and has not overheated. I'm concerned
>> that maybe the "new" water pump may be leaking, and I'm concerned about
>> the red scum. Which, BTW, is the same color as Toyota coolant...
>>
>> So, Toyota techs and hardcore shade tree mechanics: is it safe to leave
>> the green coolant in, and add more after cleaning the reservoir? Is the
>> Toyota water pump the only reason the red coolant was used?
>
> Check this site out:
>
> http://wiki.seloc.org/a/Coolant
>
> If the 2 coolants you're referring to, both use Glycol as the major
> ingredient, mixing *may* be OK. Try and find-out which one the mechanic was
> using compared to the Toyota stuff.
>
> Jason
>
>

Thanks for the link. Not very encouraging, though. I'm still hoping
one of the techs here has actual experience with both Toyota coolant and
standard green coolant in '90's era Toyota cooling systems.
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