What would you do (Split Water Pipe)

[imi]

Hey all.

 

Car split a water hose yesterday and I managed to get it towed back home and ordered a new replacement pipe. Picked it up this morning from Toyota and got it fitted (with great difficulty).

 

Anyway. I only got 1ltr of 4life from Toyota as was expecting to simply top-up the coolant However when it came to filling up the system and circulating the system I needed far more than 1ltr and ended up using NORMAL TAP WATER (in order to get the bubbles out).

 

I know that one should use distilled water (4life premixed preferably) - under these circumstances in the long run, would you flush the entire system for 4life OR leave it as it is...

 

Opinions please.....

 

thx

[Homer]

For me it'd have to be a system flush. Tap water will cause it to scale up.

 

I recently bought a few 2nd hand cooling system parts (water neck, etc) from a scrapped car. The insides of them were completely caked in scale and crud where someone had been using water to fill it (even the temp sensors had 1mm scale on them!). The ones from my car were pristine as it appears to only ever had T4L in it

[Supe]

Flush it completely mate and top up with fresh 4life coolant, unless you know what ratio of water and coolant mixture is in the system. Even if you do know, i still think water shouldn't be mixed with the 4 life coolant

[Homer]

distilled water is fine to mix, tap water is not as good

[imi]

I ended up using Tap water to top it up as I ran out of 4life.

 

Looks like I will need 2 x 5ltrs of 4Life (Koyo Rad)

 

Is it worth going for a cheaper alternative rather than the Toyota stuff?

[Bob]

I'd go for a full flush as well. It shouldn't be too bad for a short while, but definitely needs doing soon.

[Ric]

Yeah its cheap enough really, 12quid / 5 litres so just do a flush

[imi]

Vote Away guys

[imi]

Question-

 

How does one flush the system? I would like to make sure that any gunk in the system is flushed out.....

[Ric]

some people shove a hosepipe into the top water hose and let it run around for a few minutes then drain for a hour or 2.

[dan4]

12 for 2.5 litres you mean ,it is ready mixed so technically expensive!

[Ric]

well whatever, but it still comes in a 5 litre bottle.

[JustGav]

You can buy a proper flush, two part solution from a good motor factors... One clears out all the shit, the other neutralises everything, then drain and fill with 4life.

 

I'd even consider a bottle of WaterWetter in with it.

[Terminator]

Don't forget the block drain point, it will release about 1.5 litres

[geoffvalenti]

some people shove a hosepipe into the top water hose and let it run around for a few minutes then drain for a hour or 2.

 

Surely trying to flush out tap water with a hosepipe, is an exercise in extreme futility

 

Just drain it down as best you can, both rad and block, then refill with your coolant of choice.

 

You can use 4Life, if you're feeling rich, but a decent ethylene glycol antifreeze mixed with distilled water will do the job just as well, for probably less than half the cost

[imi]

 

You can use 4Life, if you're feeling rich, but a decent ethylene glycol antifreeze mixed with distilled water will do the job just as well, for probably less than half the cost

 

Geoff - any details on this stuff?

 

The toyota 4life is supposed to go brown if there is any oil in the mixture (indicating potential head gasket failure) - would this mixture do the same?

 

imi

[Rob]

Don't forget the block drain point, it will release about 1.5 litres

 

Ooh, where be that located then?

[geoffvalenti]

You'll get it from your local Halfords or any decent motor factor. Something like Bluecol will do the trick, but there's a variety of makes around, and they're all the same sort of stuff.

 

I doubt if it'll go brown with a HG failure, mainly because it starts off blue or green TBH there are so many other ways of detecting things like this that IMO its not worth worrying about.

 

In reality, Toyota 4life is just ethylene glycol pre mixed with distilled water, but sold with an air of mystery surrounding it, so people pay the exhorbitant price for it.

 

If you want a second opinion, talk to CW, I'm pretty sure he'll say the same.

[Bob]

I flushed mine out with a hosepipe after the first drain/flush, then filled the system with distilled water, drained that out then filled with T4L.

[dan4]

In reality, Toyota 4life is just ethylene glycol pre mixed with distilled water, but sold with an air of mystery surrounding it, so people pay the exhorbitant price for it.

QUOTE]

 

ive always thought that a 2year life span for such a high quality coolant is strange considering alot of other manufacturers are 5year lifespans. Although i suppose we have less HG problems lol