[Ridgemanron]

Have heard that Toyota had to recall cars because of sludge- buildup caused by their 'non-green' coolant. One master mechanic, who appeared in person at last year's NY Auto show and also has his own radio program in addition to his own shop in N.J, recommended a switch to the 'green stuff' as soon as your warranty allowed it. What type of coolant is Lotus using in the Elise?

 

[MattG]

Patience! I don't know if anyone in the world has taken delivery of a Toyota-powered Elise yet, so questions like this are a bit premature! It's a safe bet, though, that Lotus will go with Toyota's recommendation, they'd be fools not to.

 

[Arno]

Pictures from the engine bay posted here several times seem to show a warning 'collar' around the coolant bottle stating it should only be filled with O.A.T based coolant.

Used on pretty much all new engines these days AFAIK.

Do *not* mix this stuff with normal MEG or PEG glycol based coolant. It *will* sludge up completely.

Bye, Arno.

 

[vvtlikick]

I remember reading the oil sludge problem was caused by poor cooling due to a new cylinder head design. The new design was intended to enhance combustion by keeping temps up.

 

[MattG]

I remember reading the oil sludge problem was caused by poor cooling due to a new cylinder head design. The new design was intended to enhance combustion by keeping temps up.

Wasn't that just on the 5SFE series of motors though? '95+ or so? This is a different sort of sluding problem/concern - coolant.

 

[vvtlikick]

^^ I thought the topic was about oil sludge, 'cause I've never heard of any coolant sludge problem in Celicas or other Toyotas.

 

[theob]

Lotus mentions in the 111R manual that the ONLY approved Coolant Additive is the Havoline XLC (Orange Colour) in 50% concentration, and 4 year replacement interval, requiring 6 lt.


BR,

Theo

 

[Ridgemanron]

Lotus mentions in the 111R manual that the ONLY approved Coolant Additive is the Havoline XLC (Orange Colour) in 50% concentration, and 4 year replacement interval, requiring 6 lt.


BR,

Theo

This guy (The Car Doctor on WOR-710 Radio) is a master mechanic with his own shop in N.J. called RA Automotive. He also hosts the DIY show that does a complete re-build of a Vette and an Alfa Romeo Spyder. First off, he claims that no one should ever allow coolant to remain unchanged for more than two years. In addition, he said recently that there is a class-action suit building against GM for damage caused by their Dex-Cool. He continues to recommend
changing to the green stuff after warranty is over, fully realizing that otherwise GM could be left off the hook with regard to damage caused by the
cooling system.

 

[Cale]

After seeing the pictures of the Fed cars, they have that yellow circle around the collant filler labeled "H2O + O.A.T". It is the exact same label as on my Discovery. From what I have heard this is an ethylene glycol based coolant with "Organic Acid Technology" additives which inhibit the breakdown of the aluminum bits in the motor. In the Land Rover, the fluid is pink. VW and Audi use a similar pink fluid but they call it something else. BMW's fluid is blue. I could not find any non-OEM coolant manufacturer which called their additives O.A.T. The technologies may be similar, but I think that different manufacturers are calling the O.A.T. additives different names.

 

[00 scrub]

The coolant in Celicas is the Toyota pink/red coolant.