Replacing radiator fan/coolant issue

[jamsandwich]

I'm getting ready to replace the radiator fan on my first-gen Vibe after it crapped out midwinter here. Was going to just take it to my usual mechanic but they charge a flat 1.8(?) hours for it, which might be fine for some vehicles, but looking at the operation on a Vibe, it seems like an awful lot of labour for what appears to be a simple task (knock on wood). And then I found the assembly on sale, which sealed my plan to DIY it. (I am not much of a mechanic but can stomach simple operations like this)

The big question mark I have is around the coolant. I've searched the board and seen the whole DEX-Cool vs. Toyota discussion and it made me wonder what's in the car right now. The car has been driven sparingly since COVID (thanks, work from home) and my very complete service records were either relocated or tossed during some work on our kitchen. I can't remember services from 5+ years ago, so I'm not sure whether the coolant is original, or if it's been replaced (and if so with what -- concern is that it might be DEX-Cool that's taken a pinkish hue, as at least one poster here suggested can happen). I haven't looked at it outside of the reservoir yet

So I guess the question is, what to do?

A) Top up with Toyota/Asian pink coolant and hope for the best
B) Top up with universal coolant and hope for the best
C) Top it up with DEX-Cool and hope for the best (I won't do this)

My thought is option B and then take it for a flush/fill in the near future... might not be due in mileage terms (depending on when this fluid went into the vehicle), but I guess either way it's probably reasonable in terms of time.

Thoughts?

[andrewclaus]

No need to flush, just do a drain and fill. I did that for my '07 when I first got it with 150K miles, with apparently original Dexcool in it. I replaced it with Toyota and it was one of the easier cars I've done it on--bleeding the system went well. Get one of the no-spill funnels to make it really easy. I'm about to do it again 80K miles and eight years later. My county has a hazmat recovery place that takes automotive stuff for free.

[jamsandwich]

The consensus seems to be that the factory fluid is Toyota red or pink, depending on the year.

I am not really up for full DIY fluid replacement (maybe I should be) but the bigger concern is that I wouldn't want to mix DEX-Cool with Toyota fluid or vice-versa (supposed to be not good owing to the different chemistries, no?)

[andrewclaus]

Yes, you're right, a flush would be better. I went the easier route and didn't have any problems with my car. As I recall I did an extra step to drain the engine block, but didn't have a good way to dispose of flushed coolant at the time.