Temp gauge on car is in red, got home and need to fill it with water yet in the handbook it says 'coolant'...

Question

so my question is when they say 'coolant' do they mean just plain water. It's a plastic container with MAX and MIN and it is below the min line. I think it's water it needs, if not then what is 'coolant'? Thanks

Answer 1

Water, yes and no. I'm sure that coolant was a term invented by a lawyer to prevent lawsuits.

In a pinch, when your car's over-heating, water beats nothing. But, generally, coolant refers to a water-antifreeze mixture. You can run 100% water in your system but it may shorten the life of your water pump as I understand antifreeze helps lubricate it.

There's several reasons besides wanting to save the life of your waterpump by using antifreeze. It can reach a higher temperature before boiling. Steam doesn't do much to cool an engine. And it doesn't freeze. Water or weak antifreeze can freeze and at best, push out the freeze plugs on the engine and at worst, crack the block. You sometimes hear old stories of boys whose chore was to drain the old car's radiator every night to prevent it from damaging the vehicle.

Today, they're selling a mixture of 50/50 or half water, half anti freeze for about the same prize of regular antifreeze, the difference is you don't need to mix it.

What you do is keep the old, empty container of antifreeze. When you buy a new one in which you mix it with water, you have a ready container to mix it with water with the all important benefit of stating the contents. Antifreeze is a slow acting poison and exacts a very, very slow and painful death. So, it always pays to lable.

Answer 2

"Coolant" means a 50:50 mix of antifreeze (Ethylene Glycol) and water unless specified otherwise in your handbook for your specific car.
Make sure you use at least 50% antifreeze to top up your container to MAX when the engine is HOT, or MIN when the engine is COLD.

BY THE WAY, when you have a plastic container in the engine compartment that says 'engine coolant' on it, you ALWAYS add the coolant to that plastic container, NOT to the radiator.
The reason the plastic container exists IS to allow for the EXPANSION of the coolant from the motor and radiator when it heats UP. OTHERWISE you would be dumping COOLANT on the ground when the motor warms up. When the engine heats up, the coolant expands in to the plastic vessel. When the engine cools off, it goes back INTO the engine. That is why you have a MIN and MAX marking on the container.

If your engine high temperature light comes ON, you should stop driving immediately and let the motor cool down, ADD some coolant to the system, and then proceed.
NEVER open the radiator lid while the engine is HOT. You can get scalded VERY BADLY doing so. ADD the new coolant to the plastic overflow container.

Answer 3

This time of year it recommended to use a mix half water, half antifreeze. Unless your car is really old it will probably have an aluminium alloy cylinder head, therefore the only antifreeze you ought to use is ethylene glycol, as cheap stuff is methanol and this actually rots aluminium alloy cylinder heads, which costs you more than a few $ extra for the better antifreeze. Also ethylene glycol antifreeze usually doubles as summer coolant. You can just pour the antifreeze into the radiator then top up with water easy enough to do!

Answer 4

Coolant is a mixture of water, antifreeze and corrosion inhibitors. By just adding water you will weaken the coolant mixture and the anti freeze properrties will not be as good in the winter. Always best to buy a bottle of anti freeze /anti corrosion fluid to mix with water when topping up. Have never found the need to top up in my car between services.

Answer 5

Water is OK to get you home, The term coolant means antifreeze with an anti corrosion inhibitor for all year round protection. You must remember, Never open radiator when hot as you could get scolded. Never add cold water to a hot engine, You could crack the cylinder block. Get your system tested as you should never loose coolant Something is wrong and needs attention.

Answer 6

Check your car's handbook for the correct type of coolant, don't use just water, except as a "get you home" measure.

There are different types of coolant, Ethelyne Glycol, and OAT being just two of the types available.

You may need the services of a garage to check out the cause of the overheating and coolant loss. Nowadays. coolant doesn't just evaporate.

Answer 7

my car uses coolant instead of water too.. same box wit max and min.. i once almost added water in when the light indicated that the engine is hot.. but when i wanted to add i saw that the box contains a green chemical instead of water.. so i called my the service man and i had to purchase the coolant chemical from the service centre.. cannot be replaced with water..
hope this helps..
cheers

Answer 8

Coolant is the liquid mixture that helps cool the engine. It is a mix of water and other chemicals usually referred to as anti-freeze. You may want to check for leaks in your system if it got low enough for the car to run hot. A tip also about the water to use. Add demineralized water instead of tap water. It will help prevent the buildup of corrosive minerals in the cooling system. It's available at your local grocery store and it's cheap.

Answer 9

Coolant can be found at your local auto parts store - it is sold in gallon jugs. It is also called antifreeze. It is best to put a 50/50 mix of coolant and water into your car. it is probably best to have your car running when you add the coolant and water mixture.

Answer 10

Coolant is anti freeze. You can put water in the tank, but you do need to make sure you have enough anti freeze in your radiator also. This can be done by buying a anti freeze tester. They sell them at all parts stores.It looks like a turkey baster. You need to make sure you don't have a leak at your radiator or any of your hoses. You might be loosing water. I depends on how old your car is and how often you service it.