Coolant between low and full level on a new car cold !!

mww33458 · Jul 12, 2022

ZeroG said:
thats not what the manual says it says satisfactory is not grade A sir.

Does the manual say it should be at full?

ZeroG · Jul 12, 2022

mww33458 said:
Does the manual say it should be at full?

manual says between full and low is satisfactory if low fill to full. yes i know the car isn't going blow up on me if its half full its just easier to keep track of things when things are set at full if there is a leak u know right away cause everything is at full but if everything was just somewere in between then its kinda hard to even notice if somthing were wrong.

mww33458 · Jul 12, 2022

ZeroG said:
manual says between full and low is satisfactory if low fill to full. yes i know the car isn't going blow up on me if its half full its just easier to keep track of things when things are set at full if there is a leak u know right away cause everything is at full but if everything was just somewere in between then its kinda hard to even notice if somthing were wrong.

It actually says if it's below the the low line or low, that you can fill up to the full line. Anywhere between low and full is fine.

It seems your mind is already made up as everyone here has already told you its fine. Since that's the case, just go buy some coolant and add as much as you want.

ZeroG · Jul 12, 2022

going say it again big thanks for all the people that had something creative, positive, and informative to say. going follow another post i just seems like people in there talking about the same thing.

Dr. Dyno · Jul 12, 2022

I just can't believe this discussion keeps on going ... and going!

JFox562 · Jul 12, 2022

ZeroG said:
going say it again big thanks for all the people that had something creative, positive, and informative to say. going follow another post i just seems like people in there talking about the same thing.

I agree with Dr. Dyno, but ZeroG is asking a valid question to gain experience. The OP has done research on other vehicles so there is a chance experience can be gained.

Back in the day, cars did not have a recovery tank. In order to check fluid level you had to open the radiator cap when the cap was cold. Inside the radiator there would be a air gap above the fluid. As long as the internals were completely covered with fluid you were fine. Next to and slightly below the radiator cap there was a port with a tube running any overflow down to the ground; no collection tank. This was no environmentally sound to say the least.

Cars progressed in development and not only was there a recover tank added, but the air gap in the radiator was eliminated. Now when you open the radiator cap, the fluid is right there at the neck. Also, the overflow tube was moved to the recovery tank. It still dumps to the ground, the that only happens in extreme cases.

So to my point, since the radiator is completely full and is a closed pressurized system. Air in the system can cause issues with temp control. As mentioned before, the radiator fluid will expand and contract with temperature changes. Since this is not able to be done in the radiator itself any more, the recovery tank is used. The radiator cap is pressure and temperature controlled. Once open, the fluid can go back and forth from the recovery tank. Due to this back and forth, the recovery tank will need to have a range between cold and hot. There needs to be enough fluid in the recovery tank to prevent air from entering the system but there also need to be room to recover fluid when the radiator cap allows fluid to enter the recover tank.

An experiment you can do is record the recovery tank level before you start the car. Take a trip to get the car up to running temperature; a 1 or 2 hour drive would be plenty. When you get to a point to observe the recovery tank, you'll notice that the level is no longer at the same level as your trip started. After your trip and the car has had time to completely cool down, check the level again. As long as the level stays between the level indicators on the recovery tank, you're car is fine.

Also, with the pink long life coolant that Toyota uses, if you had a leak, you'd see. If you're burning it, you'll eventually get a check engine light.

Rav4-21 · Jul 14, 2022

I checked the fluids a while back and the coolant was way at the bottom of the tank, but it was cold and still had something to suck, i told me wife to mention it next time she was in there, i checked last night by the way...(LOL) before reading this post, it is in the upper normal range now.
Can we get this magic pink Lemonade anywhere but Dealer, i will have to get some on hand in case...i guess...sigh. another bottle sittin around doing nothing.

I see this in the Hybrid section, that is why i didnt see it initially.

JFox562 · Jul 14, 2022

Rav4-21 said:
I checked the fluids a while back and the coolant was way at the bottom of the tank, but it was cold and still had something to suck, i told me wife to mention it next time she was in there, i checked last night by the way...(LOL) before reading this post, it is in the upper normal range now.
Can we get this magic pink Lemonade anywhere but Dealer, i will have to get some on hand in case...i guess...sigh. another bottle sittin around doing nothing.

I see this in the Hybrid section, that is why i didnt see it initially.

Unlike the old days when you had to mix your coolant 50/50, the pink stuff is premixed so you use it straight from the bottle. It's never a good idea to mix coolant types and it is Toyota's new(er) long life coolant. So to make a short answer even longer, yes, to be certain you're getting the same stuff, it would be best to buy it at the dealer.

Widgets · Jul 14, 2022

JFox562 said:
Unlike the old days when you had to mix your coolant 50/50, the pink stuff is premixed so you use it straight from the bottle. It's never a good idea to mix coolant types and it is Toyota's new(er) long life coolant. So to make a short answer even longer, yes, to be certain you're getting the same stuff, it would be best to buy it at the dealer.

Unlike the old days when you choose to buy un-diluted or pre-diluted coolant, now you have to buy pre-diluted coolant. So you are buying 50% water. The upside is that folks that could not figure the 50/50 mix (55/45 in Canada) can get the correct dilution.

Skinny guy · Jul 15, 2022

Rav4-21 said:
Can we get this magic pink Lemonade anywhere but Dealer

TOYOTA vehicles are filled with TOYOTA SLLC at the factory. In order to avoid damaging the engine cooling system and other technical problems, only use TOYOTA SLLC or similar high quality ethylene glycol based non-silicate, non-amine, non-nitrite, non-borate coolant with long life hybrid organic acid technology (coolant with long-life hybrid organic acid technology is a combination of low phosphates and organic acids).
Source: Toyota maintenance manual.

ZeroG · Jul 15, 2022

so toyota USA got back to me and here is the answer straight from the top.

Thank you for your follow-up response.

According to the owner's manual, the coolant level should be at the full line at the time of delivery. We recommend contacting Toyota Dealer to discuss any concerns you are having with the delivery process of your new vehicle.

Sincerely,

Beth
Toyota Brand Engagement Center

JeromeNY · Jul 15, 2022

ZeroG said:
so toyota USA got back to me and here is the answer straight from the top.

Thank you for your follow-up response.

According to the owner's manual, the coolant level should be at the full line at the time of delivery. We recommend contacting Toyota Dealer to discuss any concerns you are having with the delivery process of your new vehicle.

Sincerely,

Beth
Toyota Brand Engagement Center

LOL the owners manual doesn’t say that. But that’s what you get when you go through chat/email with Toyota’s “brand engagement”, whatever that is. Far from being straight from the top lol.

mww33458 · Jul 16, 2022

It's literally a customer service operation staffed by $15 to $20/hour associates who are assigned customer queries throughout the day and have a meet a certain quota of responses each week. So it depends who picks up your question. The likely response to any technical question will be to see your Toyota dealer, that way they aren't liable for anything.

Tcir24 · Nov 11, 2022

ZeroG said:
oh that is a good note i will do that to my reservoir too thanks for the info.

The people with those annoying remarks about everything being fine. I have been smelling coolant when getting out of the car and if my windows are open. The technician confirmed the coolant is low. He said that is good news, at least you know you are smelling it. But they can’t determine where it is coming from. But my reservoir wasn’t below the low mark, it was similar to one of your pics. Supposedly a Toyota engineer is suppose to come down and watch as they fix the rear main seal leak (which they found trying to determine where the coolant is leaking). My car is the first that this dealer has seen with the issue, which is why they want to get a Toyota engineer out to look at it and also because it has only 3,000 miles on it.

ZeroG · Nov 11, 2022

Tcir24 said:
The people with those annoying remarks about everything being fine. I have been smelling coolant when getting out of the car and if my windows are open. The technician confirmed the coolant is low. He said that is good news, at least you know you are smelling it. But they can’t determine where it is coming from. But my reservoir wasn’t below the low mark, it was similar to one of your pics. Supposedly a Toyota engineer is suppose to come down and watch as they fix the rear main seal leak (which they found trying to determine where the coolant is leaking). My car is the first that this dealer has seen with the issue, which is why they want to get a Toyota engineer out to look at it and also because it has only 3,000 miles on it.

hope they fix it quick i took it to a trusted place to have it looked at when i did the oil change at 1000k miles no leaks or shinny spots yet, almost reaching my 5k miles now. sometimes i feel like my car just runs better if it never sees the dealer lol.

SLS Artemis · Nov 12, 2022

Tcir24 said:
The people with those annoying remarks about everything being fine. I have been smelling coolant when getting out of the car and if my windows are open. The technician confirmed the coolant is low. He said that is good news, at least you know you are smelling it. But they can’t determine where it is coming from. But my reservoir wasn’t below the low mark, it was similar to one of your pics. Supposedly a Toyota engineer is suppose to come down and watch as they fix the rear main seal leak (which they found trying to determine where the coolant is leaking). My car is the first that this dealer has seen with the issue, which is why they want to get a Toyota engineer out to look at it and also because it has only 3,000 miles on it.

There is a big difference between your issue of having low coolant and an odor and that of the OP with low coolant and no smell. Every vehicle I have ever owned I have had to add coolant on occasion. If you're adding it excessively and or have a smell, then there is a problem.

NoMoreDomestic · Nov 12, 2022

It was nice when fluids with an acceptable range was identified as max and min. Then people who don't know what they are doing don't freak out.

You go and put the word "full" and look what happens.

OP, do you also want the motor spoon fed with oil during an oil change so it hits exactly at the top mark?
If no, what makes it okay to have oil between two marks but coolant can't be an ounce too low?
Oil is far more critical than the cooling system (I don't mean coolant isn't important, I am saying the level is not important when within range).

You should compliment the operator you spoke with from Toyota for doing their job perfectly. They gave you the answer you wanted to hear. The person on the phone may not even know what coolant is. You do not need to be a service advisor or mechanic to work in customer relations. Or maybe Toyota does in fact only hire mechanics to operate the customer service lines.

Bernie707 · Nov 12, 2022

I’ve owned cars since 1963 and I don’t remember hearing the word “coolant” until maybe the 80s. I lived in southern California and only water was used in car radiators and there was no overflow tank connected to the radiator. If you lived in colder climates you used a 50/50 mix of water and “antifreeze” in the radiator to protect the engine block from cracking if the water in it froze in freezing weather. With the development of more efficient and hotter running engines, coolant replaced water only in the radiator. The plastic reserve tank allowed the expulsion of coolant from the radiator at high temperatures without losing it (boiling over). As the engine cooled, any coolant overflow could be drawn back into the radiator. As mentioned numerous times in this thread it is perfectly normal for the coolant level to be between the high an low marks on the plastic overflow/reserve tank. Service intervals include “check fluid levels” and the mechanic should add coolant if the level in the overflow tank.

ZeroG · Nov 12, 2022

Bernie707 said:
I’ve owned cars since 1963 and I don’t remember hearing the word “coolant” until maybe the 80s. I lived in southern California and only water was used in car radiators and there was no overflow tank connected to the radiator. If you lived in colder climates you used a 50/50 mix of water and “antifreeze” in the radiator to protect the engine block from cracking if the water in it froze in freezing weather. With the development of more efficient and hotter running engines, coolant replaced water only in the radiator. The plastic reserve tank allowed the expulsion of coolant from the radiator at high temperatures without losing it (boiling over). As the engine cooled, any coolant overflow could be drawn back into the radiator. As mentioned numerous times in this thread it is perfectly normal for the coolant level to be between the high an low marks on the plastic overflow/reserve tank. Service intervals include “check fluid levels” and the mechanic should add coolant if the level in the overflow tank.

well if your talking about old stories my auto tech teacher in college use to tell us stories of when he was stranded in Vegas and was over heating only way was to take a piss in the radiator, yes and water cools the best but also expands the most. and some of the newer radiator like the aluminum ones you need to used distilled water.

well to update the story Toyota wanted to make it right told me to come in and they would fix it went there they did everything but top off my fluids like rotate my tires etc and sent me invoice for my 5k service of course it was free but that's not the reason i drove all the way in there made an appointment waited and 1hr and to have them do everything expect what i asked lol. can be sure it will be the last time i show up for service.

ZeroG · Nov 12, 2022

NoMoreDomestic said:
It was nice when fluids with an acceptable range was identified as max and min. Then people who don't know what they are doing don't freak out.

You go and put the word "full" and look what happens.

OP, do you also want the motor spoon fed with oil during an oil change so it hits exactly at the top mark?
If no, what makes it okay to have oil between two marks but coolant can't be an ounce too low?
Oil is far more critical than the cooling system (I don't mean coolant isn't important, I am saying the level is not important when within range).

You should compliment the operator you spoke with from Toyota for doing their job perfectly. They gave you the answer you wanted to hear. The person on the phone may not even know what coolant is. You do not need to be a service advisor or mechanic to work in customer relations. Or maybe Toyota does in fact only hire mechanics to operate the customer service lines.

i actually do top my motor oil to the full line on the dip stick for a good reason so i know how much oil it burns or if it even burns any most of the time my cars don't burn only only when i am going hard on it very little, plus when you doing hard turns your oil sloshes around the oil pan and if your oil pickup doesn't pick up oil then its going hurt, and if it was buring oil and by the time you notice and hopfully your close to home and not far out at least it buys you some time before your oil runs low. but if you wanna talk about over flow take it to toyota they fill it pass the full mark.

Coolant between low and full level on a new car cold !!

mww33458

ZeroG

mww33458

ZeroG

Dr. Dyno

JFox562

Rav4-21

JFox562

Widgets

Skinny guy

ZeroG

JeromeNY

mww33458

Tcir24

ZeroG

SLS Artemis

NoMoreDomestic

Bernie707

ZeroG

ZeroG

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