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I asked around about how to do a coolant change and got some help from the members and aquaintences who are techs. Since there was no existing "How To" for coolant change on the Vibe, I put one together based on my experience today. I spent maybe an hour doing the coolant change and it was really pretty easy. Enjoy.Vibe Coolant Change How To: There are some minor differences between "changing the coolant" and completely flushing the system. The below instructions are for a simple coolant change that will likely replace about 2/3 of the coolant in your car. I put some notes at the bottom about how to completely change the coolant in your car. Notes:1.I have a base Vibe (1ZZ), but have tried to address the differences for a 2ZZ.2.You really need to have the car up on stands/ramps to do this easily.Supplies:fresh coolant (total capacity is 6.9 quarts for 1ZZ and 7.1 quarts for 2ZZ)10 mm wrench~2 feet of ~5/16” ID tubingcoolant collection containers1.Open the hood. Look straight down the back of the radiator on the battery side of the car. Locate the plastic radiator drain valve.2.Locate the radiator drain. The drain is basically just below this valve. There is a hole under the radiator and through some plastic shielding down there.3.Place a coolant collection container below the drain.4.Do not remove the radiator cap or overflow cap yet. Slowly start opening the radiator drain valve. Coolant will start to drain out the bottom. Do not completely remove the drain valve or else coolant will come out of where the valve was. If you do this right, the coolant will drain slowly, but it will suck the coolant out of your overflow tank so you don’t have to remove the overflow tank to drain it.5.Once you see that the overflow tank is empty you can open the radiator cap and continue to let the coolant drain.6.Crawl under the car with the 10 mm wrench, tubing, and another coolant collection container. 7.Find the block drain and valve. On the 1ZZ it is on the firewall side of the block straight up from where the passenger side axle leaves the transmission. You should see a brass bolt with 10 mm head and a drain below it. On the 2ZZ it’s supposed to be on the front side of the engine block.8.Hook up your tubing to the drain and put the other end in the coolant collection container.9.Loosen the block drain valve bolt with the 10 mm wrench. Coolant should now be draining out of the block10.Wait for coolant to finish draining out of the radiator and block. Note that I got a bit over a gallon total out between the radiator and block.11.Tighten the block drain bolt and remove the tubing.12.Close the radiator drain valve.13.Slowly add coolant to the radiator until full. Note that you will probably not be able to put the same amount back in that you drained yet.14.Start the car and set the heater to the highest temperature.15.Keep checking the upper radiator hose until it starts getting warm. This happens when the engine gets hot enough and the thermostat opens (took only a few minutes in the summer heat in SC).16.You should see the coolant level in the radiator start to drop so add more coolant as it does.17.At some point the system won’t take any more coolant and the coolant in the radiator will start expanding and want to overflow the radiator. Put the radiator cap on now.18.Fill up your overflow tank and close the overflow cap.19.You’re ready to drive.20.Keep checking the coolant level in the overflow tank for the next week or so because as pockets or air work their way out of the system, the overflow tank should drain somewhat as extra coolant is required in the radiator.21.Dispose of used coolant properly.You can follow pretty much the same procedure for a complete coolant change with a few extra steps as follows: Once the system is drained, refill the system with just water and run the car until the thermostat opens. Drain the coolant system again. Repeat until only clear water is coming out of the system. Close the drains. Add ~3.5 quarts of unmixed 50/50 coolant to the system and top off with water. This assumes that the remaining fluid not drained from the system was all water and should get you to the right 50/50 mixture in the end. Note that the label on the Toyota Factory Red Long Life coolant says to try to keep a 50/50 ratio, but definitely not to exceed a 65/35 coolant/water ratio.Good luck!

good write up I don't think setting the heater to high in step 14 has any effect in these cars, bu it certainly won't hurt anything21 is a key step, that stuff is toxic. where I live there are recylcing centers that take antifreeze, oil, etc.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »good write up I don't think setting the heater to high in step 14 has any effect in these cars, bu it certainly won't hurt anything21 is a key step, that stuff is toxic. where I live there are recylcing centers that take antifreeze, oil, etc.Thanks. I just wished someone had done it before me. The reality is that if you can change your own oil, you can change your coolant. There's nothing special to it and spilled coolant is way easier to clean up than spilled oil

How often are you suppost to change your coolant? and what tubing are you talking about? Sorry if i'm ignorant...

Quote, originally posted by McVibe »How often are you suppost to change your coolant? According to the 2003 owners manual every 2 years or 30,000 miles (whichever comes first).Quote, originally posted by McVibe » and what tubing are you talking about? Sorry if i'm ignorant...The tubing I was refering to was in the "supplies" list. I suggested that you get a piece of tubing to help control where the coolant drains. The block drain is about halfway up the block and above an axle and other stuff, so just opening the drain would let coolant drain all over everything. It would be like opening the valve for a water spigot without having a hose attached...there is no way to control where the fluid goes.