Hiya,

Ok so i made a big boo boo yesterday by checking my coolant levels while the engine was still semi hot and some coolant spewed out. (this is from the reservoir on top of the engine)

Now after cleaning up the mess, i looked into the engine reservoir and it was still kinda full....the other reservoir (next to the windscreen wiper fluid) was on low...anyway since the engine reservoir was still topped up i left it.

Now this morning i have two issues.

After leaving the car overnight the reservoir near the wiper fluid is still on low...is this an issue? To top it up i need to use the same coolant right? Any idea what stechnic use? Cos i just had it serviced there last month....already tried calling them...they closed.

Second issue is this. You know that noise your engine makes when it is hot...like the revs sound different for a brief second whilst the radiator fans go crazy? Well it was doing it like every 10 seconds on the way to work...with a slight woosh noise at the end of every time...wtf is this?

Not sure if its normal for a hot day but i never noticed it before.

Anyway any help appreciated....

You can just top up with water. Your radiator will have enough inhibitor in it anyway.

Distilled water

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As far as coolant level goes, STechnic actually likes to keep the levels of coolant in the cars they service at the "low" level of the reservoir because when the coolant gets hot, they actually expand. And according to them they expand quite a bit. So if it's sitting at the "low" level, I wouldn't be worried about it.

Yeah I'd be happy to keep the coolant levels on low when it's cold. As long as it's first thing in the morning and the engine hasn't been running overnight, the overflow is going to get any lower and suck air into the lines.

When you go to the track you will notice how much it all expands. I found if mine is much above the low line when cool, it will overfill the resevoire and give te engine bay a nice wash with coolant.

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Oh yeah, forgot to add that it's normal for it to be at the low level when it's cold.

Thanks for the replies guys....yeah the reservoir near the wiper fluid is on low, whether the engine is hot or cold....

Any thoughts on the second issue?

Hmm seems i was just being paranoid...the "fan noises" was actually the air con lol...

Had the stereo off this morning for some reason and that just made the noises that much more noticeable...o well....

That was a mistake, Never open the radiator cap to check the level. Only check the level in the reservoir.
In a modern car the system is essentially sealed, with the cap mainly there for replacing the coolant.
So you check the level in the res, if its low, add coolant to the res only. If it keeps dropping, you may have a leak.
Also, as stated above, check the level when its cold, so you have consistency with the readings.

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Oh yeah i did check from the reservoir...didnt open the radiator cap...

It's just that there are two reservoirs on my car....

But yeah was dumb of me to not realise it wasn't 100% cool....