1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Toyota super coolant

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Daniel Richard, Feb 22, 2020.

  1. Daniel Richard

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2019
    49
    25
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    I
    Had anyone ever questioned whether or not we should be running this coolant in our cars? Before you say “the manufacturer recommends this coolant”, think again about the mistake Toyota made when engineering the EGR cooler.

    Anyway, the reason I ask about the coolant is because I recently had to replace my head gasket, and discovered some build up in the water jackets and in the cylinder head ( look at the picture). To me the material seemed like salt that had solidified and adhered to the water jackets. The ingredients in the super coolant are as follows :
    Ethylene Glycol(107-21-1),Diethylene Glycol(111-46-6) Water(7732-18-5) Orangic Acid Salt(532-32-1) Hydrated Inorganic Salt(1310-58-3).

    I am not a chemist, nor claim to be, but are they putting salt in our coolant? If so, is this the material I discovered in my motor? Could this have a negative impact on head gasket life?

    I ended up cleaning the “gunk” out of the motor the best I could and finished rebuilding the motor.

    I am just curious what people have to say.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2017
    2,515
    3,253
    9
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    In the ingredient list, “salt” is used in the technical sense from chemistry, not to refer to common or table salt (sodium chloride). That’s made clear by the CAS Registry Numbers in parentheses, 532-32-1 and 1310-58-3, which refer to sodium benzoate and potassium hydroxide, respectively. I believe the former is used as a corrosion inhibitor, and the latter as a pH stabilizer. Both are common ingredients in automotive coolants.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  3. Nor'easter

    Nor'easter Member

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2019
    158
    96
    0
    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    What are the chances that something got added to that cooling system that wasn't supposed to be there?

    Tap water and silicated anti-freeze are two things that are specifically warned against w.r.t. P-HOAT coolants like SLLC.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  4. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2012
    3,295
    1,005
    0
    Location:
    Arcadia, CA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Deposits usually form when coolant evacuates or dries up. (I spilled some silicate enhanced coolant recently and I was left with white spots).

    I believe what you are seeing are the results of the failure you needed to fix, ie. the head gasket failure, and hence why you replaced it. Japanese makers use phosphate enhanced coolant, so it may be that.

    That is part of the point in bleeding the cooling system of all air, to avoid those deposits forming.

    Another coolant I used had neither silicate nor phosphate, but still left whitish deposits on my funnel....

    moto g(7) power ?
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,480
    38,108
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    upload_2020-2-23_9-18-7.png

    My first thought is that's some sort of aftermarket stop-leak product, typically used as a stop-gap measure with head gasket failure. Have you had the car since new?

    At least with one such product, a 50/50 mix of white vinegar/distilled water is recommended by the manufacturer, to dissolve and flush it.
     
    #5 Mendel Leisk, Feb 23, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2020
    pjksr02 likes this.
  6. Daniel Richard

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2019
    49
    25
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    I
    I just bought it. I have no idea if anyone put a stop leak in the engine.
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,480
    38,108
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Just purchased with blown head gasket, there's a good chance. You might want to try that vinegar flush, followed by several straight water flushes. Before taking the plunge though:

    If you can access some of that crusty stuff, say pulling off a coolant hose, test the hypothesis first: see if the vinegar solution will in fact dissolve it.

    After doing the flushes, if you don't have the wherewithal to evacuate all the water, use the Toyota coolant that comes full strength (Toyota Long Life?), so that you can achieve 50%.

    It's compatible, but I believe it's recommended to replace it sooner.
     
  8. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2017
    6,103
    4,032
    1
    Location:
    Wilkes Land
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Previous owner may have used a leak stopper for head gasket quick fix and sold it. This coolant is used on other toyota vehicles also, if the coolant was really did the damage, a lot of other model toyotas be dead all over the world.

    On a side note, a feller here took his prius to a stealership to get coolant change. Later the car overheated and crapped out, he called toyota and toyota took samples of the coolant. Turns out a coolant addictive was detected in the sample, the feller went back to the stealership and asked if they added the addictive, stealership said yes. The feller did sign his prius’ life over on the dotted line to not hold stealership responsible for any damages if serviced there.