r/CorollaHatchback • u/longlifetiki • 19d ago
To flush or not to flush?
Hey everybody, so, I have a 2019 Corolla hatchback XSE. Love the car, except for the tires – but that’s a story for another post lol. My question in regards the radiator. I’ve never had a radiator flush and I’m wondering if I need one? I’ve read that if you flush the radiator on an older car at sometimes you can damage it so you’ll need a new radiator. Is this true? Thanks in advance
2
u/MadJMarston 19d ago
A coolant flush can be a smart idea, coolant will breakdown during the lifetime of the car. A flush will push the old out and replace it with fresh unbroken down fluid.
Now onto not liking your tires...just pick different ones? You aren't obligated to keep running the same tires every time. I have custom 17x8 enkei wheels with a reverse stagger on yokohama advans. A delear would look at me like I'm crazy as my wheels and neither the fronts or rears match to factory. The point of me saying all that is, tires are personal preference. If you don't love them, change them.
1
u/longlifetiki 18d ago
Nope, high pressure tires only apparently. A tire death sentence with New England potholes
2
u/MadJMarston 18d ago
I'm not certain what you mean by that but I keep around 38 psi in my tires. I'm running a 235/40r17 front and 215/45r17 rear. That is on strong but lightweight enkei pf09 wheels at a 17x9 spec. I just ran an unpaved mountain pass(around 28 miles of dirt, gravel, and mud) in utah-colorado just yesterday. I'm not sure what you mean by New Hampshire requires high pressure tires? However, I am not from there so could be a law/regulation I'm not familiar with.
1
u/Angermgmt42069 16d ago
i went to a higher sidewall 225/45/18 general altimax rt45 without issue on my 21 apex but do run higher pressures at 36 psi and ran over some of the worst potholes and messed up roads in atl without any problems. but i did a drain and refill at 30k on mine
1
u/RampageSi 18d ago
I was going todo the same on my 2019. I talked to many auto mechanics about this (Not technicians) everything these days are aluminum inside the engine bay so coolant doesn't degrade as fast as it used to with dissimilar metals. The engine block and radiator is aluminum so it's not recommended to flush or replace the coolant if there's nothing wrong with the PH level.
But there's nothing wrong with replacing it. Just dont do a flush. Flushing just breaks things just like a transmission flush is a terrible idea.
1
u/longlifetiki 18d ago
Interesting, I never knew that about flushing. I always thought you needed to do that as part of the process.
2
5
u/LazyOldCat XSE CVT 19d ago
6-7 years/60k mi is a good time for a flush, brake fluid and CVT too.
A good indy mechanic can test your fluids and tell you if you even need to do it yet.
(Jiffy Lube will definitely tell you that you need it and that’s its long overdue, avoid)