Corolla Verso 2002 cooling system maintenance

[traskot]

Hi all, for various reasons I find myself doing maintenance on the cooling system of my 2002 Corolla Verso.
I had to empty the system and since I was there I did some washing with distilled water, I eliminated some small impurities but now I have two doubts:
1- I read in the booklet the cooling system contains 6.5L of liquid...a quantity that I'm unable to get out of the system in any way, unscrewing the radiator drain plug or by detaching the hose:
I start the car for a few minutes with hot air turned on to open the valve, unscrew the drain plug/disconnect the hose, open the radiator plug but I stay at 4L at most, am I wrong or forget something?
2- I believe before there was the Toyota red llc, what coolant can I replace with? Can I switch to more modern liquid? To date, I believe, Toyota would put me on the pink hllc.

Thank you, and sorry for my bad english.

[oldcodger]

Hi,

No, you are not  wrong, 4 ltrs is about all you can get out,  the rest remains lower down in the engine block and heater matrix.

You should fill the system with water, run for a few minutes to open the thermostat, and once cooled down,  drain , then repeat the whole process and that should be as clean as practicable.

When you fill, put in the right amount of concentrate antifreeze first, then top off with distilled or RO water.

There are many good makes of the correct type of antifreeze, we use Comma though no idea what is availabe where you are ?

While doing such a coolant clean, it would be wise to replace the thermostat and gasket/seal, we did at the 100,000 mile service.

Also check the radiatior for any signs of small leaks, usually showing as white or redish crystals.

On some engines like you may find a small tap/plug on the rear of the engine block, which helps remove some of that remaining  old water, however as its not been opened in years , or at all, be very careful you do not break it off !!

 

[AisinW]

Modern car never need flush. Just drain and refill, that's the best way, no contamination of any salt or calcium.  If your car come with RED coolant, Long life coolant, then use red coolant.  If yours come with pink super long life, than use super long life. Do not use others than what recommended especially using super long life on older car. SLLC contains organic acid that may be not compatible with older car cooling system. 

[traskot]

On 7/3/2023 at 10:16 PM, AisinW said:

Modern car never need flush. Just drain and refill, that's the best way, no contamination of any salt or calcium.  If your car come with RED coolant, Long life coolant, then use red coolant.  If yours come with pink super long life, than use super long life. Do not use others than what recommended especially using super long life on older car. SLLC contains organic acid that may be not compatible with older car cooling system. 

I don't know if I can call  "modern" a 2002 car, by the way I have used only distilled water and when measured it has a conductivity (therefore dissolved minerals) of 21ppm, against the 2200ppm of the old extracted coolant, 10 times the minerals of supermarket or tap water. Is the same distilled water you have to use to cut the concentrate coolants, it doesen't create any problems. If you buy an used car and you don't know the history of the works carried out and which cooland the old owner used you have to do a flush, you can't mix different types of coolants.
For the chose of the right coolant, in 2002 Toyota say to use the red one, but now I'm pretty sure if i did the work in a Toyota Workshop they would use the pink one.

[oldcodger]

What we use  - https://www.commaoil.com/passenger-vehicles/products/view/351/XSR5L/