Which coolant is fine in my 2004 gen1 1zz?

Discuss any maintenance you've done to your Vibe & Matrix and ask how to perform maintenance on your vehicle
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bigdoug
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Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:36 pm
Location: Detroit Area, Michigan

Which coolant is fine in my 2004 gen1 1zz?

Post by bigdoug »

So, I'm planning on doing a full coolant flush and drain and get any of that damn Dexcrap out of the engine. I've decided not to deal with it anymore. From everything I've heard the car originally should have came with red or pink anyway, so the dex shouldn't be in there anyway. Good thing I'm changing the radiator, and I'll make sure to flush the heater as well.

So I have several ideas on which coolant to get, and some of it is kinda pricey. I am assuming I will need 2 gallons.

Toyota Long Life (Red) - $26
I have heard this is concentrate, if so I could mix with water, if not, I will need two and $52 worth.

Toyota Extra Long Life (pink) - $24
This is 50-50 so I would need two and it would be $50 or so.

Pentofrost a1 - $25 at AZ
Seems to be equivalent to Toyota Red, and front of bottle says "For Toyota, Lexus, and Scion '04 and earlier". Concentrated, so would only need one bottle.

Pentofrost a4 - $17 at AZ
50/50 so I'd need two bottles at $34. Is the equivilent to Toyota Pink. Says "For Toyota, Lexus, Scion 05+".

Both pentofrost say they're phosphated OAT and meet ASTM D-3306.

Then there's the Zerex/Valvoline fluid ($16)
I think is compatible with Toyota Pink since it says good to 150k miles. 50/50 so I'd need two bottles or $32.

I also found this Valvoline coolant at Walmart that is pink and is $12. Seems to be their Zerex just in a different package?
Back says that it's a phosphated HOAT and meets a bunch of standards. I'm not going to type them all but the Walmart page has a good picture of the back.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Valvoline-As ... 3=&veh=sem

Cheapest would probably be the walmart stuff. Closest to OEM would be either Toyota Red (if it's concentrated) at $26 or the Pentofrost a1 concentrate. Zerex or A4 would be over $30 and Toyota pink would be close to $50. I need to call the nearby dealers and find out if their prices are cheaper though.
andrewclaus
Posts: 482
Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:38 pm
Location: Golden, CO

Re: Which coolant is fine in my 2004 gen1 1zz?

Post by andrewclaus »

I hear Toyota SLLC (pink, premixed) is preferred. I had some extra and I used that. As I recall, when I bought it for my Prius it was $25/gal at Toyota, and yes, more than one gallon is needed. I often cut costs, but I didn't feel good about using the lower cost stuff for such an important, low-frequency job.

I heard on a Prius forum that the Zerex Asian stuff should work, but most just didn't want to risk it. That said, if someone gave me a couple of gallons I'd probably use it.

On the Prius, the schedule frequency was 100K for the first batch, then 50K after that. I'll use that for the Vibe.
Caretaker

Re: Which coolant is fine in my 2004 gen1 1zz?

Post by Caretaker »

Xerex Asian, which is what you want to use, is on sale for $13 at CarQuest/Advance Auto Parts this week. I use it in all three of my cars.
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ImUrOBGYN
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Re: Which coolant is fine in my 2004 gen1 1zz?

Post by ImUrOBGYN »

I use Toyota red. Not the premix. Waayyy too expensive for you to just add water and basically give me half the coolant. lol I premix my own using distilled water.

Don't forget to fully flush your coolant system if you haven't already and are unsure of what was used before or if another type of coolant was used before. Trust me, I've seen what can happen to aluminum in your system, etc. If I remember later and I can find them, I'll post some pics.
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best
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circuitsmith
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Re: Which coolant is fine in my 2004 gen1 1zz?

Post by circuitsmith »

I can tell you Zerex Asian looks and smells exactly like Toyota pink (SLLC).
I wasn't brave/foolish enough to do a taste test.
2006 Matrix 5-sp
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ImUrOBGYN
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Joined: Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:23 pm

Re: Which coolant is fine in my 2004 gen1 1zz?

Post by ImUrOBGYN »

circuitsmith wrote:I can tell you Zerex Asian looks and smells exactly like Toyota pink (SLLC).
I wasn't brave/foolish enough to do a taste test.
I don't understand what pets see in it. :oops:
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best
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Caretaker

Re: Which coolant is fine in my 2004 gen1 1zz?

Post by Caretaker »

Unfortunately Georgie Best dipped into the "coolant" too many times. I watched him play many times with the Aztecs, Strikers and Earthquakes.
As for pets, they are attracted to the sweet odor. Sad.
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ImUrOBGYN
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Re: Which coolant is fine in my 2004 gen1 1zz?

Post by ImUrOBGYN »

Caretaker wrote:Unfortunately Georgie Best dipped into the "coolant" too many times. I watched him play many times with the Aztecs, Strikers and Earthquakes.
As for pets, they are attracted to the sweet odor. Sad.
My comment was a joke about the taste of the coolant. It's terrible. haha Don't see why a pet would want it once they tasted it. For the record, one of my dogs had the opportunity but smelled it and turned away. However, it must be added that a good friend of ours had one of their family dogs get into some without their knowledge (yes, irresponsible storage), and their dog passed away. They're almost 100 it was the coolant. :cry:

Anyway, back on topic. Nobody likes a sad derailment...
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best
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