[Gansan]

Originally Posted by sudharma

If the cooling system is working normally, then the coolant level in the reservoir will be near Min. when cold and near Max. when hot.

I don't think so. The coolant level in the reservoir will be slightly higher when the engine is hot, as compared to the level when cold, that is all.

The max and min markings are merely to ensure the coolant level is maintained between the two.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Gansan

I don't think so. The coolant level in the reservoir will be slightly higher when the engine is hot, as compared to the level when cold, that is all.

The max and min markings are merely to ensure the coolant level is maintained between the two.

But the coolant level should dip when the engine is hot right? I mean it will be circulating when the engine is hot .How can it be more? Can you enlighten?

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

But the coolant level should dip when the engine is hot right? I mean it will be circulating when the engine is hot .How can it be more? Can you enlighten?

I have no idea, but that is what I observe in my car. Perhaps because the coolant liquid in the radiator expands due to heat, gets collected in the reservoir and is later sucked back as the level drops due to cooling. The experts can answer this.

[sudharma]

Mod Note : Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another on the SAME THREAD!

Originally Posted by Gansan

I don't think so. The coolant level in the reservoir will be slightly higher when the engine is hot, as compared to the level when cold, that is all.

The max and min markings are merely to ensure the coolant level is maintained between the two.

Right. But the cold and hot levels again depends on how much coolant is there in the reservoir and the expansion due to the temperature.The level will eventually go down due to evaporation even if there is no coolant leak. If you fill the reservoir 80% or 90% between Min - Max mark, You may loose coolant through the vent hole when the engine is hot
.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

But the coolant level should dip when the engine is hot right? I mean it will be circulating when the engine is hot .How can it be more? Can you enlighten?

The cap on the radiator has vacuum and pressure relief valves built in. When the engine is Hot the pressure in the radiator increases and at a predetermined value ( 7 psi for some vehicles) the pressure relief valve lifts and sends the excess coolant (due to thermal expansion) back into the reservoir. When the engine temperature becomes low, the coolant in the radiator contracts, vacuum is created and at a predetermined value the Vacuum relief valve opens and sucks back the coolant in the reservoir back to the radiator.

Since the radiator is always full and the same amount of coolant is circulating there won't be any level drop in the reservoir only rise in the reservoir level when the engine warms up due to coolant thermal expansion.

The 2 valves together maintains the correct operating pressure and temperature in the radiator.
But I have noticed that some of the modern vehicles don't have a radiator cap. Not sure how the Radiator pressure and engine temperature is maintained in this case.
Any one can enlighten me?

[Desmosedici]

Today morning after driving for around 5 Kms i noticed some smoke / steam coming from the left side of the bonnet. Checked and saw the Coolant pipe had got disconnected and there was hardly any coolant inside and the smoke / steam was coming from the tube which had got disconnected. I got a botte of Bisleri and put it in the Coolant bottle but before that a Truck Driver nearby told me to wait for sometime as the water was chilled and should not be poured and the car should not be started immediately. After 10 mins i poured the water in the coolant bottle and started the car. Noticed a mild RPM fluctuation and the Temp Needle was below 50% mark as always. However i noticed some sound similar to water boiling and kept the car at my friends place which was just 100 mts from where this happened.

Question is, if such a thing happens, what should be the normal procedure. Should i fill in the Coolant mixed with Water in the Coolant Bottle and should i also fill in Coolant mixed with water into the Radiator as i guess a lot might have got evaporated when the tube got disconnected. I have got a 500ml bottle of BPCL MAK Lubricants coolant. Please help on what i should do. My car is a 2001 Honda City Vtec.

[blackfire_9]

^^ Pour coolant (diluted with water) into the radiator & make sure that it has the optimum amount of the green fluid inside. The reservoir can then be topped up to bring the level between the marked ranges.

Drive safe.

[richie4u]

Hi all,

I opened the engine cover today while washing my Nano, Well I found the coolant level below MIN mark, The manual mentions "premixed" coolant (50:50)
I dont want to go to Tata all the way for just this task so I want fill the the auxiliary coolant tank myself so can you please advise which coolant should I use and what is the meaning of premixed, do I have to mix the coolant or will be coming mixed from the company itself and which brand is suited for the Nano.


Do i Have to add coolant into the aux. tank only or Will I have to add in the radiator too (if yes then how much)?

[blackfire_9]

Premixed means "ready to use coolant". You needn't dilute it with water before use since that has already been done at the company.

As for the available premixed coolants, there are many companies that have such products including Castrol & Valvoline, though I am not sure which particular one would suit the Nano.

Originally Posted by richie4u

Hi all,

I opened the engine cover today while washing my Nano, Well I found the coolant level below MIN mark, The manual mentions "premixed" coolant (50:50)
I dont want to go to Tata all the way for just this task so I want fill the the auxiliary coolant tank myself so can you please advise which coolant should I use and what is the meaning of premixed, do I have to mix the coolant or will be coming mixed from the company itself and which brand is suited for the Nano.


Do i Have to add coolant into the aux. tank only or Will I have to add in the radiator too (if yes then how much)?

[carboy]

Originally Posted by carboy

My car (Swift) uses the Golden Cruiser Blue Coolant, I think.
First of all blue coolant is very difficult to find - green one is more commonly available - it's available in 250 ml, 500 ml & 1 litre & it's usually Castrol or some other brand.
In the odd shop which stocks Blue coolant, Golden Cruiser is never available. Castrol or others have only the 1 litre botle only.

When my coolant was at the Low mark, I needed around 1/2 litre of distilled water (pure without additive) to top it up to High Mark.
So if I mixing stuff, I would need at max 250 ml of the additive.
I can't even find 500 ml of any Blue coolant, so it seems a lost cause.

What's the difference between the blue and green coolant? At my last service, Carnation did a coolant change. They seem to have filled up Green Coolant. Does it make a difference?

[Ashley2]

Is the ones which we are using are not pre mixed?
Its available in the market already and CV's are using this.
Around 10 to 20 litres will be used to refill(if drained completely) and it would be extremely difficult to mix water seperately.

[pcpranav]

thought of sharing my experience with coolant.

I own a Xylo. I remember, during the initial month itself, I noticed a drop in the coolant reservoir, below MIN (violet colored liquid) and called the helpline. He replied, during such cases, it can be topped with drinking water OR add regular (typically green) coolant with water, but better if topped with the recommended violet coolant to maintain density. Many a times at the M&MASS I did notice technicians putting water in that reservoir!

I have also seen literature in workshop, which says the (OEM'ed) Blue colored replaced with Violet one for Xylo, Scorpio, Bolero.

More than two months back, at my 40K service, as recommended in the manual to entire renew coolant, did so. On casually asking the reason to renew, got a reply that the chemical would have lost its power to cool or protect the radiator! Existing liquid was drained from the engine bottom side and poured fresh 4 ltrs of Maxi Coolant violet (forgot the OEM) - in the radiator and reservoir compartments. It says premixed - so no need to add water. Liquid costed some 700 bucks + labor charges.

Last month, saw the level again going down and went to another nearby M&MASS and informed about the renew of coolant. He immediately pointed a leakage in one of the big rubber hose in the engine bay, violet deposits were visible. The hose was removed and new gasket/seal (Rs.20) was applied with Anabond (Rs.110 !). The thirsty tank immediately drank 1 ltrs coolant (~Rs.180) to the brim. But the technician advised to buy another 1 ltr as the level may dip in next few days, so as to refill. This did happen and that spare jar was used to topup - I have some 500ml balance. Since that day I have been routinely checking the level - all ok. Did a 700 KM trip and still ok.

regards,
Pranav

[Chevy]

I own a fiat linea, last week during my check noticed that coolant level was way below the minimum level mark.

Reached out to workshop and I got 1 Litre of Paraflu UP (Ultra Protection), the service engineer has directly filled the coolant of almost about 800ML directly without adding water. When I questioned him he said water is a already there in the coolant tank and there is no need.

Is this good? if ones add coolant without water.

Is there anything for me to check as I must have been running on low coolant for quite some time. Would there be any problem to the engine. But never the temperature of the car has increased beyond the limit.

[mayankk]

This seems to be the most recently active thread.

I have a query.
I had been using the green stuff in my fiesta.
Last service, ford changed it to their OE, the orange one.

Now, the horrible heat is here.

I find that my fan seems to be working overtime.
As soon as I hit any traffic, 2-3 minutes in fan kicks in.
Whenever i park, the fan stays on for a bit after I switch.

Thing is, I don't know whether its cos of the coolant, or the tremendous heat.
This didnt happe in the last summer.

I AM , of course, changing the coolant back to the regular one.

So can someone throw some light on this:
Do certain coolants require more effort to lose the heat than others?
I am presuming that if the heat is not to blame, then the coolant is asking for more effort from the fan to exchange.


EDIT:How do you drain a fiesta's coolant?

[bshankar]

A few thoughts.
Ethylene glycol is the main component of car engine coolants. 100% EG doesn't carry as much heat from the engine to the radiator as an equivalent amount of water, which can result in overheating.

Fluid - Freezing Point - Boiling Point
Pure Water: 0 C / 32 F - 100 C / 212 F
50/50 mix of C2H6O2/Water: -37 C / -35 F - 106 C / 223 F
70/30 mix of C2H6O2/Water: -55 C / -67 F - 113 C / 235 F
The temperature of the coolant can sometimes reach 250 to 275 F (121 to 135 C). Even with ethylene glycol added, these temperatures would boil the coolant, so something additional must be done to raise its boiling point.
The cooling system uses pressure to further raise the boiling point of the coolant. Just as the boiling temperature of water is higher in a pressure cooker, the boiling temperature of coolant is higher if you pressurize the system. Most cars have a pressure limit of 14 to 15 pounds per square inch (psi), which raises the boiling point another 45 F (25 C) so the coolant can withstand the high temperatures.

EG must be mixed with distilled (demineralised) water. Distilled because normal water has minerals that might corrode the system over a period of time. Indian Oil's Servo Kool Plus concentrate is blue in colour, while other brands are green. I don't think coolants in India are car specific. Unless the cooling system needs a specific type of coolant. Aluminium radiators for example. IOC says Servo Kool can be used in all petrol and diesel cars. Recommended mix - EG:Water is 70:30.

Never add coolant to a hot engine. Thermal shock might crack the engine head. Be patient and wait a while for the engine to cool down before adding it thru the reservoir tank.

I used to have a regular coolant leakage problem. The radiator would be full but the reservoir would empty out. Despite all kinds of checks, nobody could figure it out. I applied a thin layer MSeal's liquid gasket where the flexible hoses connect to the radiatior at the top and bottom. Just squeezed the tube an spread it with a thin spatula to form an elasticky bond. Voila! No more coolant leakage.

[bshankar]

Info on coolant colours.

Base is either Ethylene Glycol or Propylene Glycol both of which have same chemical structure and are clear. Propylene and Ethylene glycols can be mixed - their chemical structures are the same. They are blended with corrosion inhibitors and dye is added to give colour. Colour denotes the type of corrosion inhibitors used. Specially in US and European markets.

Green is the traditional coolant with inorganic corrosion inhibitors.
Red is for extended life coolant (ELC)
Purple/pink for fully formulated ethylene glycol based coolant
Blue for fully formulated propylene glycol based coolant
Yellow is used for its nitrite free coolant like Shell Rotella Ultra ELCTM.

Generic coolant manufacturers in India only mention that it conforms to IS or JIS Standards.

Mayankk says Ford's OE coolant is Orange. Does your manual mentions any JIS/ASTM/IS standards for coolant? If it does, compare it with the standard mentioned in the generic pack. If its the same (ignore colour), it should be ok.