Just finished changing out the coolant on my Rav. Just a FYI to those who attempt this, even when you drain the block you only get 1.3 gallons out. My car has the tow package and has nearly 2.5 gallon capacity. Not a bad job, but getting to the block drain is a bit tricky - got to take off the exhaust heat shield and go in from underneath. Of course, you have to remove the under tray as well for this job. Also, took a while to get the air out of the system. I used the bleeder near the fuel rail. It works well. Car has 72K miles and I'm not keen on the 'lifetime' fluid - especially with the potential for WP issues.
2007 V6 coolant replacement
2 reading
arries289
21 - 27 of 27 Posts
Joined
·
333 Posts
2006 Rav4 2.4L I4 Coolant drain & fill
so I did coolant drain & fill.
for 2006 Rav4 2.4L I4. almost 6 years old, odo 68,000km.
I bought only 1 gallon(3.78L) of "Zerex Asian vehicle 50/50" from Walmart canada,
so I drained 1 gallon only from radiator drain,
not more from body drain.
What I did;
1. remove under plastic cover
2. Attach clear tube to the drain nipple, (Tube's ID=3/8"=0.375"=0.95cm)
Open reservoir cap, and Loosen(not detach) valve.
3. Close valve when it drained 3.78L
4. New fluid into reservoir cap. Slowly until to top level. And close the cap.
5. Start engine 2000~2500 rpm until radiator fan run.
squeeze upper and lower hoses several times.
Add 3.78L total if new fluid remains.
The drained Toyota SLLC(super long life coolant) fluid looks like good color
it is exactly the same color showed in the reservoir.
I'll do the same 1 gallon thing every 3 years.
My last picture's WS is actually typo, it's SLLC.
so I did coolant drain & fill.
for 2006 Rav4 2.4L I4. almost 6 years old, odo 68,000km.
I bought only 1 gallon(3.78L) of "Zerex Asian vehicle 50/50" from Walmart canada,
so I drained 1 gallon only from radiator drain,
not more from body drain.
What I did;
1. remove under plastic cover
2. Attach clear tube to the drain nipple, (Tube's ID=3/8"=0.375"=0.95cm)
Open reservoir cap, and Loosen(not detach) valve.
3. Close valve when it drained 3.78L
4. New fluid into reservoir cap. Slowly until to top level. And close the cap.
5. Start engine 2000~2500 rpm until radiator fan run.
squeeze upper and lower hoses several times.
Add 3.78L total if new fluid remains.
The drained Toyota SLLC(super long life coolant) fluid looks like good color
it is exactly the same color showed in the reservoir.
I'll do the same 1 gallon thing every 3 years.
My last picture's WS is actually typo, it's SLLC.
Attachments
just did this. Couldn't figure out why I couldn't get the last 1 quart in till I read this post. I got the v6 and I didn't need to remove anything. You can reach your arm down the side of the battery to turn the nozzle. Also the plastic skirt underneath has a flap that's held closed by a screw and clip. Just unscrew the screw from the clip to pop the flap open to allow you to reach up into the engine bay from below to attach a hose to the drain. The hardest part was feeling around trying to find the nozzle and drain.
Joined
·
22 Posts
I did a simple radiator drain and fill for the first time on my Rav this past weekend and my fluid was slightly darker, but not bad after 140k miles with moderate towing here and there. (V6 w/tow pkg)
Question: instead of trying to get to the engine block pet-cocks, can I just occasionally do a few radiator drain/fills for the next 10k miles to get virtually all of it exchanged? There didn't appear to be any sludge or material in the first ever draining.
I drained about 1.2 gallons by letting it drain by itself, then starting the engine for 10 seconds and let the rest of that drain out. I don't think starting the engine did much though, I only seemed to get a tiny bit more out of it, most likely the thermostatic valve was closed?
Anyhow, for future ease, I installed a piece of tubing from the pet-cock, zip tied it to the frame and cut a hole (2 cause I miss-estimated) in the bottom shield. Now I don't have to remove anything next time and can just reach up through the access flap to open the valve.
![Image]()
Question: instead of trying to get to the engine block pet-cocks, can I just occasionally do a few radiator drain/fills for the next 10k miles to get virtually all of it exchanged? There didn't appear to be any sludge or material in the first ever draining.
I drained about 1.2 gallons by letting it drain by itself, then starting the engine for 10 seconds and let the rest of that drain out. I don't think starting the engine did much though, I only seemed to get a tiny bit more out of it, most likely the thermostatic valve was closed?
Anyhow, for future ease, I installed a piece of tubing from the pet-cock, zip tied it to the frame and cut a hole (2 cause I miss-estimated) in the bottom shield. Now I don't have to remove anything next time and can just reach up through the access flap to open the valve.
In contrast to posts above, my 07 V6 2GRFE has 2 block drains. Of course it also has the yellow butterfly handled drain at bottom of radiator. The block drains are not easy to see. The one at "front" of engine (facing ahead down the road) is behind the oil dipstick. The second block drain is accessed from under the vehicle. It is in the "center" of the engine facing toward rear of car. Find it above the rear propeller shaft near exhaust manifold. It can also be seen if you remove the right front tire (for left hand drive vehicle).
Sorry for the overlap. I thought this reply was going to show up attached to an earlier question. FWIW for those with 2007 2GRFE V6, mine does in fact have 2 block drains. They are in the same locations as shown on the 2006 Toyota service manual that someone posted on this thread and other threads. I can't remember what month or factory my 07 v6 was built, so if someone has an 07 with only 1 block drain, perhaps it was a change from 2006 that didn't occur in all 07 or people just can't find it. Easiest way to confirm is to look at your own. I describe where I see mine in post#25 above. I recall draining about 0.6 to 0.7 gallon from them, because I got almost 1.5 gallons from radiator butterfly-handled drain, and then ended up with at most about 2.25 gallon total all three.
21 - 27 of 27 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
