refilling coolant..

[Rogmok]

i noticed that the coolant level in my car is right at the "minimum" line.. is that normal?

Is it ok if i just poor more coolant into it, or do I have to flush it?

[537]

Check the thermostat. When the engine is cold (don't even try it after you've driven it), unscrew the thermostat and see if your coolant system is full. If you don't see any coolant right beneath the thermo, pour more coolant in (not via the resevoir) and try to gauge how much it was that you put in.

Screw the thermostat back on and drive for a day or two. When the engine is cool again, take a look at the resevoir first to see if it is at a normal level. Then unscrew the thermostat cap and check the coolant level. If you cant see the water, pour more coolant in until its full.

If you have to pour a lot in, you have a leak in your coolant system. Get under the car and look for dirty wet drip trails. Typical perpetrators are black rubber hoses that look dried out or show signs of cracking, the seals on the water pump, and loose hose clamps. If you see any of the above and it warrants a replacement, you'll have to empty out your coolant before you swap stuff out. Then you add a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water. Don't be tempted to drink the antifreeze even though it tastes sweet.

If you see the water is at exactly the same level as when you checked the previous day, your coolant system is running fine. The resevoir you're looking at is just that...a resevoir. You won't be able to tell what's going on with your coolant system just by looking at that.

Hope this helps.

[Rogmok]

hm.. a couple of questions...
- is the thermostat, the silver cap that is on the radiator?
- you talk about water and coolant, i'm assuming they aren't the same thing...?

i just looked in my haynes.. and answered my questions.

i'm gonna go check it out, and let you know if i have more questions

thanks!

[Craig]

Then you add a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water. Don't be tempted to drink the antifreeze even though it tastes sweet.
How would you know what antifreeze tastes like ?

[Rogmok]

so to get to the thermostat, I have to unplug the upper radiator hose...? those hose that attaches to the manifold..?

Is this a sensitive part of the car? will i break anything?

So the coolant in the resevoir isn't really an indicator how much coolant I have, since some of it is in the radiator? I was just worried since it was hovering around the minimum mark...

[bluemonq]

How would you know what antifreeze tastes like ?
drinking ethylene and propylene glycol is a fairly common cause of death for toddlers and pets; just a few licks to a few ounces can kill in minutes. the most common source is from a cracked pipe or a spill. some people also drink it thinking it's liquor or something else ethanol-based (the drinkable kind of alcohol). those are the people who say it's sweet. you can also examine the chemical structure of it; you will find many resemblances to glucose and sucrose.

interesting fact: in order to prevent antifreeze from killing you, medics will inject a near-fatal dose of ethanol to stop your liver from breaking down the antifreeze into liver- and kidney-killing toxins.

[537]

so to get to the thermostat, I have to unplug the upper radiator hose...? those hose that attaches to the manifold..?

Is this a sensitive part of the car? will i break anything?

So the coolant in the resevoir isn't really an indicator how much coolant I have, since some of it is in the radiator? I was just worried since it was hovering around the minimum mark...

That is not a very sensitive part of the car, but coolant WILL spill out everywhere. You shouldn't need to remove this hose.

The thermostat I am referring to is a screw-on cap in the vicinity of the upper radiator hose. There should be all kinds of "Caution: HOT" warnings or something to that effect on the top of it. If you unscrew that, you should be able to see your coolant mixture.

If you just look at the resevoir, you may miss a few things. The resevoir relies on a closed cooling system. The purpose of the resevoir (or overfill tank) is to provide a buffer in the cooling system. Apply heat to something (in this case, your coolant), and molecules become active, expanding the material. With the ever changing temperature of an engine (turn it off, it gets cool; turn it on, and it gets hot), the coolant resevoir tank level rises and falls during normal operation! Here, your thermostat comes into play as it is spring loaded and allows coolant to be funnelled into the resevoir tank.

However! If there is a leak in the coolant system, the above scenario CANNOT function properly. Instead, the expanding coolant suspension is forced out of the system via the path of least resistance. And onto your driveway.

- you talk about water and coolant, i'm assuming they aren't the same thing...?

Water is water, and safe to drink.
Coolant is antifreeze (lubricant for your water pump, and has a higher boiling point and lower freezing point than water). Flourescent green most likely. Smells very distinct.

What you put in the radiator is half water, half coolant. Water has very good thermal transfer properties but boils way too soon. Coolant has OK thermal transferrence, but is very slippery and can absorb more heat (as well as having a very very very low freezing temperature). If you fill your radiator with all water, your engine would dump all its heat into it very efficiently, but the water would come to a boil and start to turn gaseous, which is BAD for engine cooling. If you fill your radiator with all antifreeze, your engine would retain more heat as it may not be able to transfer it to the coolant quick enough.


I'm sorry if this post doesn't make complete sense. Hope this helps though!

How would you know what antifreeze tastes like ?

When you're under cars all the time and looking up, stuff is bound to fall in your mouth.

[archspeed]

I think what 537 is referring to is the "radiator cap" on top of your radiator. The thermostat is a part of the engine itself.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong =D

[537]

I think what 537 is referring to is the "radiator cap" on top of your radiator. The thermostat is a part of the engine itself.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong =D


No, you're right. I always called it a thermostat because of its reliance on temperature. But it's not actually called the thermostat.

Sorry for the confusion!

[Beat180]

Coolant tastes sweet because it's ethylene glycol. One of it's properties is that it tastes sweet but will cause renal failure and some other pretty bad stuff. You can touch it since it doesn't absorb readily through the skin. Ingested it can kill small animals within 30 minutes of exposure like small dogs having a sip of the stuff.

With the motor cold, pop the radiator cap off and see where the coolant is. If it's right up to the bottom of the cap, you're fine. If it's below that, you'll need to top off the coolant and burp the system.

[mrazntre]

and make sure you use the "right" kind of coolant. That's gonna depend on your preference, what you already have in your car, and what your manual tells you. Some have additives that will jack up the cooling system such as silicates that eat away at your seals and water pump (over time of course, not instantaneously).

If you're having slight problems with running a little hotter than normal, you can try to use coolant enhancers, such as Redline Water Wetter, Neo Synthetics' Keep Cool
Royal Purple's Purple Ice, etc.

Coolant burns sweet too.

You may also have some air trapped in the heater core, run the heat for a bit next time you're driving around. Then double check the coolant level after the car cools down.


AND if you happen to be WAAAAY out of coolant, you'll probably experience boil over and hear some coolant guzzling/gurgling sounds from your motor. That's no good. So make sure it doesn't get to that point!

[Beat180]

Yes, match the colors! Mixing green with orange (or vice versa) will cost you quite a bit to fix and so on.

FYI GM uses pepper tablets suspended in your coolant to fix leaks.

[mrazntre]

FYI GM uses pepper tablets suspended in your coolant to fix leaks.

explain!!!!

[Beat180]

The use of pepper as a leak stop has been around for a while. Just GM puts it in circular disc form. It's about the size of 2 or 3 quarters stacked together and they charge about 70 cents to a buck fifty at a dealership for it. You toss that in there with the normal mix of coolant and water and shake it all about. It'll dissolve and plug up minor holes in your cooling system. This is something that you should not do if you've an import with the smaller holes and stuff in your water pump but alot of domestics can use this without problems. Dealerships will use this technique to make sure your car doesn't leak coolant from shotty gaskets and not enough RTV when they do water pump or thermostat jobs on your car. So if you get your car taken care of at a dealership you might want to watch out for these pepper tablets.