benbrandwood

iTrader: (1)

Now I anticipate that this is likely to cause debate as looking around the net it seems people can't agree

I took a look at my coolant level today and saw that it was just below minimum in reservoir tank. Coolant in there looks to be a lightish green (hard to tell)

I've looked in the owners handbook and (I quote) it says to use "a mixture of 50% soft water and 50% ethylene-glycol basis coolant"

Off I trot to Halfords and pick up

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...Id_229902#dtab

Which while it is pink, is 50/50 water and ethylene-glycol and states it's compatible with manufactures other colour coolants.

Something like this:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/colum...tember/04.html
seems to say it will be fine too.

However there also seems to be a large group of people who say "NOOOO NEVER MIX OMGWFTBBQ!!!!!1!"

So. Will I be OK? Next service is in about 4k miles so can get a flush then if needed. And of course I'll be look at the levels like a hawk from now on to make sure it doesn't drop again.

Car is 2002 bugeye STi

Cheers

Ben

EDIT: Just to say I've been reading the copious search returns from here on Scoobynet and while it's obvious that the best thing to do would be to drain/clean the system and refill, that's not an option to me at the moment. So really the question is - by putting in enough to go from min to max on the tank at the front of the engine bay - will that be a problem?

kevaldo

iTrader: (4)

I had the green in my bug wrx, but i managed to get a hole in the rad, so i got a new rad drained all the green out and put the pink halfords in never been a problem. That was back in the summer.

arumdevil

I should think you'll be fine mate. It's the stuff recommended in the hand book so should be the same as what's in there (theoretically) and it's silicate free which apparently it needs to be so all good. I would also remove your filler cap when it's cold and make sure it's full. If not top it up, then start engine and it will go down a bit, top it up again and let it idle for a minute or so to bleed any bubbles out. then replace cap. Keep an eye on it doing the same whenever the level drops just in case you're losing coolant.

benbrandwood

iTrader: (1)

Yep, that was my thinking too

thanks for the hints on filling it, I'll do that tomorrow evening before I leave work - lighted carpark and flat surface - all things I lack at home!

arumdevil

you don't necessarily need a flat surface. If anything it's better to have the front of the car raised a touch so the air comes up towards the filler cap.

benbrandwood

iTrader: (1)

Right, slight update on this one.

On Wednesday evening, while car was cold I filled up the coolant reservoir, went from maybe 1/2 inch below minimum to 1/2 inch above max.

Drove home from work - 50 miles mixed roads got home, checked level when I arrived and it was exactly where it was before I set off.

Then today, took it for maybe a 10 mile round trip for lunch, bit of in town driving, got home and the level (when warm) was 1/2 inch under maximum. Left it a couple of hours, still at the same level.

No symptoms at all, coolant looks clean enough, heaters working fine, water temp fine(according to the ScangaugeII sits usually at 85c only going to 90c max in static traffic), no sign of drips or leaks anywhere. Only odd thing is when car is cold lots of white smoke/steam from exhaust, but that clears when temp is up to normal - putting that down to cold days and condensation in the exhaust.

I'm going to keep an eye on it, but keeping fingers crossed it's not the Head Gasket (if it is then the bloody thing is going off to be broken!)

arumdevil

Are you taking your reading from the plastic tank that sits attached to the radiator? Is that where you are topping up? If so that will not solve the problem, at least not for a long time after many topups.

You need to remove the filler cap/radiator cap (on my car it's a separate aluminium tank on the engine with hoses running to the radiator, on yours the cap may be directly on the radiator itself, I'm not sure). Remove the cap (it's metal) and top up there until full. then start the car and check the level again, if it's low tup up some more and let it idle for a bit to let any air bubles out. once it starts overflowing, put the cap back on. Drive the car as normal and check the level before you start it each morning and repeat as necessary.

If you haven't done that already, then what happens is when the coolant gets hot it expends, forcing through the radiator cap into the plastic expansion tank (unless there is air in the system in which case it may only force air out). As the car cools it pulls the coolant back in from the expansion tank, but it may not be able to pull it all back in if there's an airlock in there.