bought an imported 12a from japan that obviously sat around for a while, and while I was going over it I took out bolt that drains the coolant and this putrid super acidic fluid poured out. This stuff was nasty, it reeks, its the same color as red wine, and my hands still sting from when it spilled on me. My big worry is that the coolant seals are trashed, also that acid probably ate the aluminum housings for lunch. What do you guys think?

 

Rubber is generally not harmed by acids. Aluminum and cast iron, is another story.....

 

If it is Red that is the oem color of anti freeze that is used in later Toyotas. That stuff is not determental to aluminum. But as far as out coolant seals go?

If it was the aftermarket red which I believe is similar to Dexcool. That stuff seems to cause alot of seepage for hoses. Again, do not know what the coolant seals would look like or the housings for that matter.

 

Open the heater core slider inside (hot-cold slider) - fill with tap water, drive a few miles, drain, repeat. Pull rad and have a rad shop chem-dunk and pressure test it; reinstall, 50-50 coolant and distilled water and keep you fingers crossed....
(though I would also replace ALL heater and rad hoses, thermostat at the same time...)
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Can't really do that, the car is in storage, and I just bought another radiator, as of now the new motor and tranny sit on my radio flyer wagon, and that stupid beehive oil cooler forced me to replace the heater hoses long ago.

btw the engine has 120 psi compression on both rotors, I don't know if one can guage housing corosion with a compression reading.

 

I would do a full flush and fill service on the cooling system with the Prestone cooling system cleaner. Run water through the system until it runs clear. Heater controls must be open to full heat and removing the thermostat will aid in flushing. If you use the tee insert to flush the system, use hot water for flushing. Replace the thermostat with a new one and use either de-ionized water or buy the 50/50 pre-mixed coolant.

Drain the system from both the drain plug at the bottom of the radiator and the secondary one at the botton of the engine core on the driver's side.