Hey I have a question. Do you put the coolant/water mix into the reservoir tank or the radiator? Does it matter if you add the coolant while the car is on or off. My coolant is for some reason completely gone and when I start my car it overheats so I don't think I should add it while it overheats.

 

If all your coolant disappeared and your car over heats adding more coolant isn't going to cure the problem, you obviously have a leak or else the headgasket is gone.

 

I was thinking the headgasket might be gone but I thought that had something to do with the coolant and oil mixing. I checked the oil and it looks normal. When I jumped my car (my car has been off road for a while) this white smoke came from the engine and it smelled like burning...what is this? Besides I haven't been driving it around at all so how can the headgasket go by my car sitting in my driveway? Does this have to do with the cold weather?

 

my integra has had more leaky coolant hoses than any 10 hondas/acuras put together. after a while they crack and split and it's no fun. are you dripping coolant onto the ground? I had one leak where it dripped slowly on the exhaust and burned away so there was almost no dripping.

white smoke in the engine bay is a leak of some kind. busted head gasket would mean white smoke from the tailpipe.

if you have a bad/old gasket, it could have rotted or something if the water has lots of deposits in it [tap water]. I'm just guessing on this though, so don't quote me.

and as for the original question, you can add to either the radiator or the overflow bottle as far as topping it off. but if it's really low/empty then fill up the radiator. the bottle is used for when it gets too hot and needs to relieve pressure...and it sucks it back in if it needs to. keep the radiator filled to just below the bottom edge of the opening under the cap [do NOT fill to the top!] and periodically check the bottle and keep it filled to the lines.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 94gsr18kid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey I have a question. Do you put the coolant/water mix into the reservoir tank or the radiator? Does it matter if you add the coolant while the car is on or off. My coolant is for some reason completely gone and when I start my car it overheats so I don't think I should add it while it overheats.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Add coolant into the radiator until it's full. Drive your car for a few miles, then let it sit and add more coolant. Do that again and your coolant should be fine. You can also add coolant or water to the resivior, to about 1/2 or 3/4 full, but that's after the radiator.