Quote:
Originally Posted by Tcoat
This ^
Once upon a time in the days of yore cars did not have expansion tanks. When the coolant expanded too much it came out the tube and pissed out all over the road. This of course meant that eventually the level would drop in the rad and have to be topped up with the proper MIX of water and "antifreeze".
Then one day some tree hugging hippes complained that cars should probably not be pour toxic chemical out all over the roads and the companies added the expansion tanks to hold that mix.
Unfortunately the tanks could not be air tight or else the pressure to release the expanded coolant would have to be incredible so they added venting to them. When the expansion tank fills up the coolant is HOT and the water evaporates off leaving behind the "antifreeze".
Strangely enough when the expansion tank is empty it does not mean the coolant is actually low. Unless you have had a leak (you will know it) what it really means is that the rad has just leveled itself off to the perfect amount inside when it is hot. The 6 ounces or so less when it is cold means nothing as far as cooling goes.
So the moral of the story is... If you have not had a physical leak but your expansion tank RESERVE is low, just add distilled water not "antifreeze". Your coolant concentration has not changed and all you need to do is replace those few ounces of evaporated water.
Now, if you have had a leak that is a whole different ball game.
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Very interesting. Thankfully, it doesn't appear to be a coolant leak but I will be keeping a closer look at my fluids going forward.
