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2009 Toyota Sienna coolant question

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  • September 30, 2014 at 3:42 am #623791
    ThomasThomas
    Participant

      Hey Guys,

      I have a 2009 3.5L Toyota Sienna that I drained the coolant out of over the weekend. I dumped he fluid out of the radiator then filled it up with distiilled water and ran it until the engine was up to temp, then dumped the water then filled it up with anti-freeze. I didn’t have a spill free funnel like in ETCG’s video but I just ran the engine to purge the air out after putting in the new anti-freeze and topped it off.

      My question is now the temp gauge in the van is going almost immediately to the middle, it stays, but it’s almost immediate even when the engine is on and also the heat is taking longer than it used to to get hot.

      I just don’t know if this is normal or not, it’s the first time I’ve drained out the coolant and I just want to make sure nothing major is wrong.

      Thanks!

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    • September 30, 2014 at 3:54 am #623795
      Russell SawyerRussell Sawyer
      Participant

        It sounds like there is still air in the coolant system. I would recommend getting a spill free funnel and bleed the air like in the video ETCG does. You can get one on Amazon. Spill Free Funnel

        September 30, 2014 at 4:02 am #623803
        GlennGlenn
        Participant

          If you don’t have a spill free funnel but do have a floor jack or ramps try this…. Raise the front of the vehicle. Crack open but do not remove the radiator cap (if equipped). Trapped air will rise to the highest place. This is an old trick with finicky cooling symptoms that will sometimes help.

          September 30, 2014 at 4:22 am #623814
          ThomasThomas
          Participant

            Alright, sounds good, maybe I just didn’t run the car for long enough and I didn’t get all the air out the first time. I’ll do it again tomorrow and let you guys know how it goes.

            Thanks for the quick replies!

            September 30, 2014 at 8:29 pm #623987
            EricTheCarGuy 1EricTheCarGuy
            Keymaster

              Rechecking for air is not a bad idea. If you don’t find any I wouldn’t worry about it too much unless it starts to overheat. The fact that it isn’t is encouraging.

              Keep us posted.

              October 2, 2014 at 4:28 pm #624476
              ThomasThomas
              Participant

                Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you all know that I was able to bleed some more air out of the cooling system and get it all topped off with fluid. Van runs great now, get up to temp and holds and the heat isn’t having issues anymore.

                Thanks for the suggestions, it really helped me out! B)

                October 2, 2014 at 6:54 pm #624485
                GlennGlenn
                Participant

                  Thanks for following up on your post. Glad this worked out for you. Did you get a spill free funnel or bleed the air another way?

                  October 2, 2014 at 7:00 pm #624492
                  ThomasThomas
                  Participant

                    I did get the funnel, that thing is really nice. I made a mess the first time around, it made it much easier and cleaner.

                    October 3, 2014 at 7:37 pm #624676
                    EricTheCarGuy 1EricTheCarGuy
                    Keymaster

                      Glad to hear you got it solved. Thanks for the updates and for using the ETCG forum.

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