sup, i just bought a 00 si with many bolt ones, i am not that experienced with cars,but i see that my coolant is starting to go on the fluid judging by the looks. it is next to my radiator. when i fill it up with coolant should i also fill up the radiator or just that coolant thank. what goes into that radiator, why is there a cap there? thanks

 

bump

 

The coolant reseviour has high and low marks on it. When the engine is at operating temperature, the collant expands and the level will be at the high mark. The excess is pushed out of the radiator cap and into the reseviour. As the engine cools, the coolant contracts and pulls fluid back into the radiator from the reseviour, causing the level to drop to the low mark.

Unless the reseviour is completely empty, you need only to add coolant there.

If it's completely empty, remove the radiator cap (DO NOT DO THIS WHEN THE ENGINE IS HOT) and add coolant to the radiator. Then fill the reseviour to the proper level.


Then, try to find out why the coolant is disapearing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Perfectionist &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Unless the reseviour is completely empty, you need only to add coolant there.</TD></TR></TABLE>Not always true. A bad cap or leaky hose going over to the reservoir can put air into the radiator while the reservoir's still full.

When it's cold, squeeze each of the radiator hoses. If there's air, usually you can hear it sloshing around.

 

Good catch, JimBlake. Since the OP doesn't have that much experience with cars I decided to generalize quite a bit.

I guess the real question is... Is he really losing coolant, and if so, why?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bigbeasta4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... i see that my coolant is starting to go on the fluid judging by the looks...</TD></TR></TABLE>Maybe he means it just doesn't look healthy? Maybe it's not about losing inventory...

The car is new (to you) so it sure wouldn't hurt to make sure the radiator is full.