Water Coolant

brigadear

I need to get coolant for my car as engine seems to be over heating today, anybody recommend anyone in particular, or does it matter, as have never bought one before, thanks.

crosstownk

What sort of car - make/model/year? Have you checked the coolant level - is it low?

If you're stuck, plain old water will do.

brigadear

Its Ford Escort 98. I put water in it for moment.

crosstownk

Good. Leave the water in it for now and keep an eye on the level. If you have a leak then at least you won't be paying good money for coolant which will end up on the road. If the level continues to drop then you know you have a leak. If it stays the same then you may need to drain some of the water to allow you to replenish the coolant. Winter is on the way, so you'll need low temperature protection.

brigadear

I was told by somebody that I should only put maybe 50% water and then buy some coolant/anti freeze. Are they wrong. I only have the car about 2 months, and it has been getting closer to red for past week or so.

Anan1

Have you checked the coolant level yet?

brigadear

Yes it was low.

crosstownk

brigadear wrote: »

Yes it was low.

Any signs of a coolant leak under the bonnet/on the ground?

It's p1ssing rain today - so spotting a leak on the ground could be difficult.

brigadear

I didnt notice anything today.

crosstownk

Keep a strict eye on your coolant level over the next few days. Check it regularly.

brigadear

I dont know to much about cars, but asking couple people today at work and getting different answers, one person told to filll it entirely with water, and somebody else else said 50% water and 50% coolant??, and people say use this coolant and not that one!, but dont think these people knew what they talking about.

Anan1

If it wasn't leaking then you should be using coolant. Given that the stuff is just coming straight back out though, it's not a good idea to use anything but water. Once you've had the leak sorted out you can use coolant again.

brigadear

What coolant should I use, or does it matter?

Plug

50% water and 50% coolant is correct.
If its leaking from the radiator crack an egg and put it in the radiator not the coolant resivior.
Dosen't matter about coolant types afaik.

Anan1

It'll say in the handbook. To be honest, you really need to have the car looked at as a matter of urgency. The mechanic who sorts out the leak will refill with coolant.

crosstownk

Use water until you've established whether or not you have a leak. The concept surrounding coolant is that it is a liquid that 'absorbs' the heat of the engine. It is passed through the radiator and, in turn, gives up it's heat to the on coming air which means it is sufficiently chilled to return to the engine and absorb heat once again. Water is absolutely fine. It just doesn't have any anti freeze or protective properties.

Andrewf20

Try to avoid tap water which will scale up the insides of the engine over time. Get distilled / purified water. Still water in bottles should do.

peasant

Generally speaking, diluting your coolant with water (tap, destilled or otherwise) should always only be a short term "emergency fix".

The special coolant fluid not only protects your engine from frost, but also from corrosion. If you have too much water in your mix, your engine cooling system will start to rust from the inside out.

IrishRover

Andrewf20 wrote: »

Still water in bottles should do.

Still water in bottles would be the worst you could use, as it is full of minerals that would scale up in the coolant system.

If you have an air dehumidifier, the water collected from that is ideal, or even the water collected from a condenser tumbledrier would be ok (but I would prefer to filter that before using it to remove any fibres of lint).

antodeco

Isint it true that you have to keep with the same colour water coolant that you already have? I remember hearing this before, but cant remember what it was on?!

Andrewf20

IrishRover wrote: »

Still water in bottles would be the worst you could use, as it is full of minerals that would scale up in the coolant system.

I was told differently from more than 1 source. My understanding is that bottled water is purified.

IrishRover

It is, but purified doesn't mean removal of minerals. It's the minerals that make it taste nice to drink. Pour some in a kettle and boil it and you'll see the chalky stuff form a scum at the top.

On the other hand, drinking water collected from a dehumidifer or condenser won't taste nice to drink

JHMEG

Irish Rover is spot on. Ideally you shouldn't use any water other than distilled due to trace salts and stuff in tap/bottled, which will corrode your cooling system.

It's actually easiest just to buy pre mixed coolant which already contains the correct ratio of distilled water.

Oilrig

Ja, second that, buy the pre-mixed stuff, no messing around with mixing or whatever. Just make sure its suitable for your particular car - VW's for example need specific (pink) coolant or the heat exchanger rots, allowing the coolant to mix with the oil... not good. :eek:

Esel

Plug wrote: »

50% water and 50% coolant is correct.
If its leaking from the radiator crack an egg and put it in the radiator not the coolant resivior.
Dosen't matter about coolant types afaik.

Do not do this - it is purely an emergency measure, and the coolant system would have to be thoroughly flushed asap afterwards!

Plug, why post such a piece of crap as genuine advice? If you have nothing positive/accurate to contribute, don't bother.

congo_90

esel wrote: »

Do not do this - it is purely an emergency measure, and the coolant system would have to be thoroughly flushed asap afterwards!

Plug, why post such a piece of crap as genuine advice? If you have nothing positive/accurate to contribute, don't bother.

would be useful for getting to the garage in all fairness. he poster mentioned the car is getting close to over heating. I had a bird cross in front of my car and cracked the radiator. Thankfully i had just done the shopping....waited several minutes then cracked an egg in. Drove home and left the car in for repairs next day.

ninty9er

I tried getting coolant last week after I realised my resevoir was totally empty:eek::eek: and couldn't find the stuff anywhere...I'll have to go to f*ing Halfords now as not 1 service station or DIY superstore had any!!:mad:

_Kaiser_

Just for reference, what brand/type is needed for a VW diesel?

crosstownk

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

Just for reference, what brand/type is needed for a VW diesel?

It depends on what you have in the cooling system at the moment. Basically G12 (Pink) can be used in all engine types, but G11 (blue) can only be used in older engines. But they can never be mixed - if they are mixed the coolant will be brown. Most VWs from the late 90s use G12.

blackbox

Hi Crosstownk.

Obviously things have moved on since I used to know the antifreeze options - methanol (1 season only, toxic), ethylene glycol (toxic) and propylene glycol (non-toxic, but expensive). Can you enlighten us more about G11 and G12 - I couldn't find them mentioned in Wikipedia.

crosstownk

blackbox wrote: »

Can you enlighten us more about G11 and G12

No problem. G11 & G12 are the terms VW use for coolant types. IIRC, G12 came out when VW switched to aluminium engine components. Basically the chemical composition of G11 is not suitable for aluminium components.

Some more detailed info here > http://www.geocities.com/dtmcbride/home_garden/auto/antifreeze.html