Quote:
Originally Posted by Edirol
So under normal conditions, if the car is left to sit overnight and I check the reservoir in the morning, it should always be at the max line? Or would coolant need to be topped up once in a while due to evaporation? I'm asking because after a couple of months, I see that the coolant level in the reservoir dips down to the low line and I top it up again.
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What you do is this...
Top off the radiator to the bottom of the filler neck.
Turn the car on and let it heat it up until the thermostat opens (radiator fan has cycled twice). The coolant level will then drop.
Shut the car off.
Fill the radiator up to the bottom of the filler neck.
Place the radiator cap back on the radiator.
Then, fill the coolant reservoir to "MAX."
In the morning, or after a few hours of allowing it to cool, refill the reservoir to "MAX."
After that, you should not have to refill the reservoir anymore for a long time. Evaporation will reduce the amount of coolant over time, but not by a significant amount.
At 12,000 miles (about 9 months), I've only had to add about half a cup of coolant to the reservoir (it used to be at "MAX" but I found it halfway between "MIN" and "MAX" last time I inspected it).