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#1
Hi,
In my old Wagon R, the radiator water and coolant level seemed to go down on its own. So much so that I had a coolant bottle in the house and we used to put in coolant every 15 days, just to have it drop below the low mark in that time. In the last few days I had the car, when I was to give my car away in exchange, I didn't drive it at all. Then, when I took it out to remove all the accessories before handing it over, it overheated enroute a 4-5km drive and I lost aircon. It was traced down to lack of water in the radiator and nearly 750ml went in that day (after it had cooled down of course). We gave away the car with radiator full to the brim. I sold it to the MASS when taking my Swift. The Wagon R used to drop both coolant and water levels over time on its own, even though there was no leak anywhere. Since it was preowned, I used to think this problem was on account of previous abuse.
Now in my Swift, my driver pointed out a few days ago that he had checked the water level. Checking once in a month or so, he added 250ml of water. Coolant levels are ok, in 4 months since I had the car, I haven't needed to topped off coolant.
So the question- you can call me naïve if you want but I want to a clear understanding of the systems
I always thought radiator water never needed to be checked. After all, its a closed recirculation system.
I thought we add coolant into the coolant bottle and it pumps into the radiator itself.
I have the impression that coolant is mostly rust /corrosion inhibitor and antifreeze.
If so,
1) Is my understanding of the system correct in that coolant is pumped into the radiator as required by the internal systems and that the radiator is otherwise a closed system?
2) Do you need to add coolant when adding water to the radiator?
2) If its a closed system, how can the water level drop?
3) Is there a way to drive / anything to do when parking up for the day to prevent it losing water?
4) How often do you need to check / add water. As far as I know, adding water directly into the radiator in a cold car is the only way to check the water level
Ameyam
In my old Wagon R, the radiator water and coolant level seemed to go down on its own. So much so that I had a coolant bottle in the house and we used to put in coolant every 15 days, just to have it drop below the low mark in that time. In the last few days I had the car, when I was to give my car away in exchange, I didn't drive it at all. Then, when I took it out to remove all the accessories before handing it over, it overheated enroute a 4-5km drive and I lost aircon. It was traced down to lack of water in the radiator and nearly 750ml went in that day (after it had cooled down of course). We gave away the car with radiator full to the brim. I sold it to the MASS when taking my Swift. The Wagon R used to drop both coolant and water levels over time on its own, even though there was no leak anywhere. Since it was preowned, I used to think this problem was on account of previous abuse.
Now in my Swift, my driver pointed out a few days ago that he had checked the water level. Checking once in a month or so, he added 250ml of water. Coolant levels are ok, in 4 months since I had the car, I haven't needed to topped off coolant.
So the question- you can call me naïve if you want but I want to a clear understanding of the systems
I always thought radiator water never needed to be checked. After all, its a closed recirculation system.
I thought we add coolant into the coolant bottle and it pumps into the radiator itself.
I have the impression that coolant is mostly rust /corrosion inhibitor and antifreeze.
If so,
1) Is my understanding of the system correct in that coolant is pumped into the radiator as required by the internal systems and that the radiator is otherwise a closed system?
2) Do you need to add coolant when adding water to the radiator?
2) If its a closed system, how can the water level drop?
3) Is there a way to drive / anything to do when parking up for the day to prevent it losing water?
4) How often do you need to check / add water. As far as I know, adding water directly into the radiator in a cold car is the only way to check the water level
Ameyam
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