What coolant?

G'day everyone,
 
I'm flushing out the radiator tomorrow and putting fresh coolant in. Is the standard red Toyota coolant the way to go or are there other products worth considering? Car gets tracked a fair bit so if there's stuff that's proven to reduce temps then that would be what I'm after. I've seen a few products like Redline Water Wetter and Royal Purple Ice and they look alright but not sure if they're worthwhile. Any insight or 1st hand experience would be much appreciated.
 
Thanks!
Adrian

My turbo has green stuff in it :(

But red isnthebway to go
If it has red put red in it
If it has green put green in unless you flush it very well
Otherwise with gunk up inside your cooling system then your in trouble.

Also water wetter does work,
I used the purple ice it seemed to keep the temp gauge down a noticible amount, not sure on redline.

However,
Do a 75- water 25- coolant mix or 70-30 mix and that will keep temps down better then a standard 50-50 mix

Water wetter won't hurt if you have the money.

Sounds good, thanks fellas. I'll pick up some Toyota red tomorrow and dilute it down to 70-30. Heard that tip from a few different people. Hopefully that doesn't give me problems with corrosion. I'll see how much the redline or RP stuff is and if it's not too much I might pick up a bottle. I am a bit wary though- did a bit of googling and some people have had problems with the additives not getting along with the coolant and gunking up the system. If I do try it I'll mix some with a bit of coolant first and see if it reacts.
 
Ethan- when you used the purple ice was that with your na, and was it running the red coolant?
 
Is distilled water necessary or will tap water do?

If you are serious about using Toyota red, use demineralised water.
Any positive effect the Toyota red coolant might have would surely be lost by using inferior water.

Toyota red is well worth the money.
I change it every 2 years, and what comes out is looks almost as good as the new stuff going in.
 
Use concentrate to distilled water in the recommended  50/50 mix.  I have read that using too much concentrate can inhibit cooling capacity anyway.
 
IMHO, don't use additives unless you are a chemist and know the exactly what will happen, otherwise you could end up with sludge.
 

Thanks Redmr2red, I've already got the whole service manual PDF.
 
I ended up getting a bottle of Nulon red for the simple reason that it comes in a 5L bottle so I only need 1 instead of getting 2x 4L bottles of Toyota red and having 3L sitting around for 2 years. The Nulon stuff is meant to be good for 5 years / 250000km so we'll see how it goes. Also picked up a bottle of Nulon radiator flush and ran that through before flushing. System must be pretty clean though because the old coolant came out bright pink with no crap through it. I refilled with tap water for a flush but sun went down so I'll have to drain it tomorrow and refill with fresh coolant.
 
I didn't end up getting any extra additives. Figured I didn't have any cooling problems before so no need to risk it.

Yeah I probably won't keep it in there for the full 5 years. Maybe 3 or 4 max. But it is a bloody pain the ass to change the coolant so I am tempted to not touch it again for 5 years.
 
I've been pretty lucky with this car, mechanically. The previous owner seemed a little dodgy but he definitely looked after the car. Engine runs nice, no tarnishing or gunk looking down the oil filler hole or on the dipstick. Cooling system nice and clean. Even the gbox oil the car came with was perfect. Only started getting some grinding after I changed it and I can't seem to find the ideal gbox oil again.
 
Anyway, after I'm done with the coolant, all the fluids will be brand new so car should be happy. Did the gbox oil yesterday and engine oil today while the coolant was draining. Just as well coz I've got a Circuit Club track day this Saturday hehe.

I use Nulon red. Does the job IMO.