Offroad-Express

Should I use tap water as coolant to fill my radiator?

I have a Toyota LandCruiser Prado kzj78 1994.

You can, but way better to mix it with proper coolant concentrate.

Inhibits corrosion, improves lubricity and raises boiling temperature higher than water alone.

you can but not good, use the proper stuff (not the green lolly water you sometimes get), the red toyota stuff is the best. remember the 1kz's can crack heads so good coolant helps

Jerry,

What type of coolant are you talking about?

It's all dried up actually, should I just use some water as temporary coolant and add some coolant tomorrow when I buy it?

Sorry I'm really inexperienced, this is my first car and I'm still learning.

Tap water is ok temporarily

This stuff doesnt list any anti corrosion

http://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/online- ... nuFrom=413

This stuff does

http://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/online- ... escription

Sounds like Jerry is talking about the genuine Toyota coolant available from dealers?

Is that right Jerry?

So should I fill up the whole thing with water and just add some of those tomorrow or should I add about half water and tomorrow add the coolant?

Whatever you fill it with it needs to be completely full.

When you ad the good stuff, you will need to drain some of the water out.

use water for now add coolant when you can, supercheap stuff seems ok, you can get toyota red coolant which is supposed to be good for the 1kz heads

Thanks guys. I'll fill it up with water and get some coolant tomorrow. Jerry do you know roughly how much is Toyota selling their coolant for? If it's extremely expensive then I'll just get the supercheap auto one. If there's not much difference I'll get some from Toyota.

On another note, I've seen a lot of people blowing their heads for this truck. Not sure what it means but it sounds very expensive to repair. What can cause heads to blow?

$50+ from toyota

do a search on here for 2lt, big exhaust helps, so does letting it rev on a hill instead of lower revs

If your engine has red coolant already use red coolant if it has green coolant already use green coolant. If the two are mixed can sometimes Curdle/go lumpy as hell and you have to drain/flush and start again. Dont ask how I know....

You can run with water in it for now. then drain it out and refill with whichever coolant you buy.

One big mistake alot of people make is that they use tap water if they are using concentrated coolant. Tap water( specially if you have hard water) is full of impurities and minerals which will a) effect the properties of the coolant you are using b) will separate out when in contact with the hot block and leave deposits in your water ways (like all the white stuff on the shower door or the kettle) which will reduce the cooling capacity again.

If you are mixing a 50/50 mix yourself then premix it in containers before filling the cooling system. Use either distilled water If you have a distiller or buy de-mineralised water from the supermarket.(girls use it in their irons to stop the minerals rooting the iron and clothes,good enough for an iron then dam good enough for an expensive engine)

the top Manufacturers of both coolant and engines recommend buying premixed coolant as they can guarantee that the coolant meets the requirements without any possibility of contaminants from tap water.

Warehouse sells premixed coolant which is perfectly fine for dry liner vehicles.Ie all our 4x4 diesels out there.

You only have to be real picky about the quality of the coolant and its inhibitor levels when you have wet liners(big modern diesel engines) as the shock wave from the piston going up and down creates cavitation on the liner and pitting corrosion will form which will eventually bore all the way though the liner. I have seen a Detroit diesel with 5000kms on the clock rooted because the owner dropped the coolant and filled with tap water.

hope it helps to clear things up he he (clear as mud)

How do you know if your original coolant is red or green? Yesterday when I fill it up, I noticed that the insides were quite dirty. It looked muddy and red. Is that normal or a sign of corrosion? I don't think this truck was very well maintained by the previous owner.

Muddy like substance in the radiator is usually oil in the water and can be signs of a blown head gasket/cracked head. I know it's a bit late telling you now but be suspicious of a vehicle without antifreeze in the radiator and muddy/dirty/oily radiator.

I would have thought muddy is a sign of corrosion, Usually would say if there was oil in the water it turns milky.

gimmemud wrote:I would have thought muddy is a sign of corrosion, Usually would say if there was oil in the water it turns milky.

yep looks like milkshake if oil in water
if orangy muddy looking then as said would be corrosion, a good flush and thermostat and youll be away.... hopefully

It would also plan to at some stage, before summer, to remove the radiator and have the core rodded at a good radiator place. The red brown stuff is usually due to a boil up lift in all the crap out of the block and depositing it on the radiator blocking some of the cores. If the top tank is plastic and it looks like it has lines running across it (almost like cracks) then it has been hot - once they get hot it doesn't take long before they go brittle and blow a hole. Cost me a head job on a Subaru trying to fix it on the cheap.