How many gallons of coolant for a flush and replacement?

2006 Toyota Tacoma Pre-Runner V6, 4.0 liter engine-Automatic.

1) How many gallons of coolant will I need?

2) Ok to use "Universal" coolant and not the pink stuff?

 

Do you have the user maintenance manual?

 

2 for complete D & F.

or my method. 1 in the radiator for a refresh

 

I drained a rad and passenger side block and got 1.5 jugs worth out.

2 jugs is enough

 

I think I used to about 16 years ago..

 

Only the pink stuff or universal coolant ok?

 

Pink toyota oem.

I would never mix coolant, unless you planned on completely flushing the entire system with water then draining.

 

If you are going to do this, do a full flush. You will need a 5 gallon bucket, 3 gallons of distilled water and 2 gallons of Coolant - I use AMSOIL Coolant Antifreeze - Passenger Car & Light Truck
You can pull the lower radiator hose from the Radiator & let it drain all the coolant. Take off the Radiator Cap and open the cap on the overflow tank. Squeeze the radiator hoses and remove as much as you can. You will still have coolant in the engine block. Next you can turn the engine on to flush the remaining amount of coolant out or you can re-install the lower radiator hose, fill the system up with distilled water and turn the engine on with the heater on the high. This will open the Thermostat and allow the coolant to drain from the block. Then shut the engine off, pull the lower radiator hose and drain again. You might have to do this process a few times till the color of the liquid is clear coming out. Once the system is empty you can fill the radiator with new coolant, and fill the overflow tank to the min amount. Start the engine and with the heater on high let it run until it reaches 185 deg and the thermostat opens and burps the system. You might see the coolant in the Radiator drop and it will pull from the overflow tank or you can add it directly into the Radiator. Once the system is full and you got all the air out, you can install the radiator cap and close the overflow tank. Let it idle again and make sure its got the right amount in the overflow tank. You might need to add a little bit more and then you are done. Dispose of your old coolant properly.
AMSOIL Coolant is good for 5 years or 150,000 miles

 

As said above.
2 gallons for a full flush.
If just doing a partial flush use OEM.
I replaced all of mine with Zerex Red Asian vehicle coolant. It was priced well and has worked great. Got it at O’Reillys

 

Why bother with all that when you can just open the drains on the either side of the block?

 

You got a 2006? You are ready for a rad.

I'm gonna say why not replace the rad along with the coolant?

A radiator is about $125, coolant another $50 for 2 gallons of concentrated coolant.

Draining and filling multiple gallons of coolant is going to run you close to $100.

Why not remove the mystery if the rad is in good shape by just replacing the rad?

I don't waste time with flushes, the radiator replacement is quicker and not much more money and I have a huge piece of mind as well.

 

Because drain blocks don’t always come in and out smoothly, this is a simple process that lets you completely flush the system without a ton of work. Drain it, fill it with distilled water and then drain it again and you’re good to go.
Multiple ways to skin a cat as the saying goes.

 

no need to replace a radiator if it’s not leaking and there is no major damage to it. I just did my girlfriends car and it was 48$ with coolant and distilled water. The two jugs of AMSOIL coolant was 19.50 each and distilled water is like 1.50$ a gallon. If you are going to do a new radiator then I would absolutely do the hoses as well as the water pump and thermostat

 

Sell it why bother with changing fluid

 

Thank you very much for your time and response

 

My wife reminded me just last night my Tacoma has to last at least another 3-4 years.

 

It's a 2006. It is going to need a rad soon. Most consider radiators a replaceable part.

Gonna suck doing a flush, then 6 months later a seam starts sleeping.

 

You're welcome, happy to help

 

Hey man, I'm not sure where you get your information from but my truck is an 08 and so the next time I do an oil change I'll just change the motor since its getting older...
Also, I priced out the Radiator, cap, hoses and water intake assem with thermostat and it's over $300....
So 2 jugs of Coolant for $40 a 5 gallon bucket from home depot and 3 gallons of Distilled water will be about $50....sooo

 

If changing your coolant causes a leak then your radiator was already failing a long time ago but, out of all the vehicles I've owned, I never once had a radiator just start leaking after a coolant change. My 2006 RAV4 has 200K on it and did the coolant last year and no leaks, no nothing. The only vehicles I've ever replaced a radiator on was my 1990 Jeep Cherokee, but they were notorious for failing because they used Plastic End Caps on their Radiators were prone to breaking.