My owners manual says to change the coolant at 100K or 5 years. I have about 78K on the vehicle but its been 5 years so I guess its time to change. The coolant does not seam dirty (looking at the degas tank) but I hear the corrosion inhibitors breakdown with time. Anything I need to know before changing? It does have rear heat and AC, does that call for a different procedure? Basically what I have found searching the forum is that you want to Loosen the cap at the degas tank first. Then take the bottom radiator hose off and drain the radiator and also open the petcock located at the bottom of the radiator. Then remove the threaded coolant plugs on the block and drain the block. I hear that the passenger side cannot be reached due to the starter being in the way, is that true? Now the system should be drained. Now I want to reinstall the lower radiator hose and tighten the petcock. Now I want to remove the upper radiator hose. Now I need to take the thermostat out of the housing and put housing back on without thermostat in place. Run water into the degas tank, turn on motor and turn heat to high. run water in degas tank until clear water is coming out the upper radiator hose. Now, repeat the whole drain procedure. Put everything back together. Now mix a batch of 50/50 mix and fill the system from the degas bottle. Keep degas cap off to allow air bubbles to escape. When thermostat opens, level will drop and keep adding until the proper level is achieved, check coolant level periodically to make sure its at the right level.

Am I missing anything. Not sure if this vehicle has green, gold or even orange coolant. It looks yellow/gold to me but hard to tell (color blind). I want to make sure I use what it came with (long life). Also, the drain plugs on the block, do I need to use sealer or Teflon tape on them when putting them back in? Thanks for you help.

 

Anybody out there?