Coolant levels

[Phuviano]

Hi, got my frs just over 3 weeks ago. I noticed that the coolant level when the car has been sitting over night, is just slightly above the low level mark. When I drive it, the coolant goes to almost to the full level mark, but it doesn't go all the way to the full level.

Is this normal for these cars? I'm not sure what to think, because I just got this car.

[86MLR]

Coolant expandes when hot, into the expansion tank, it will then return to the system when cold via the vacuum.

I set my coolant to the full when cold.

https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-rad...flow-tank-work

[Ultramaroon]

It's normal for every car.

[theadmiral976]

Absolutely normal for every car. In my experience with this car, if you fill the expansion tank to the "Hi" line, the level will drop to just above the halfway point between Low and Hi after just one drive, even if you have recently bled the system. So I guess what I'm saying is: don't chase the reservoir level after every drive; you're just wasting coolant as it must weep from the motor at some point. Personally, when the reservoir level drops below "Low," I fill to halfway and keep an eye on it. But maybe that's just my car...

[86TOYO2k17]

Originally Posted by theadmiral976

Absolutely normal for every car. In my experience with this car, if you fill the expansion tank to the "Hi" line, the level will drop to just above the halfway point between Low and Hi after just one drive, even if you have recently bled the system. So I guess what I'm saying is: don't chase the reservoir level after every drive; you're just wasting coolant as it must weep from the motor at some point. Personally, when the reservoir level drops below "Low," I fill to halfway and keep an eye on it. But maybe that's just my car...

That’s just your car.. if it’s leaking someplace fix it or you didn’t fully bleed it good enough and driving and heat cycling it is slowly finishing the bleed job. Should fill to the high mark and it should always come back down to the high mark when cold.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Phuviano

Hi, got my frs just over 3 weeks ago. I noticed that the coolant level when the car has been sitting over night, is just slightly above the low level mark. When I drive it, the coolant goes to almost to the full level mark, but it doesn't go all the way to the full level.

Is this normal for these cars? I'm not sure what to think, because I just got this car.

Well, like mentioned above, all cars have always done this. The difference is that in the older cars, the "expansion tank" was built into the top of the radiator and you couldn't see the level of the coolant rise and fall as it heated and cooled.


humfrz

[Phuviano]

Ok, thanks for the info guys.

[theadmiral976]

Originally Posted by 86TOYO2k17

That’s just your car.. if it’s leaking someplace fix it or you didn’t fully bleed it good enough and driving and heat cycling it is slowly finishing the bleed job. Should fill to the high mark and it should always come back down to the high mark when cold.

I've never noticed a leak anywhere so it might just be bleeding very slowly. It's done this for 5 years since I bought the car and I've never had issues with coolant temps. Just to be clear, once the level in the reservoir tank hits ~50% it doesn't drop any further. It just won't handle a reservoir fill above that for more than one drive cycle.

The car does gurgle a little on shut down at what seems like the heater core, which has always led me to think the core is just hard to bleed on my car. I got it to go away for a few weeks after changing my coolant and meticulously bleeding it but the sound has since returned and it doesn't seem to be affecting anything. Maybe there's a small crack in the core that evaporates before it hits the ground. I'm sure as hell not removing the dash to find out lol.