Hello All,

 

We are leaving for a long road trip on Wednesday and I just noticed the coolant level on our Madza BT50 is under the minimum level on the expansion tank. It is not empty, about 1.5cm below the min level mark.

The engine is cold, so will it expand to correct level when the engine warms or should i go to the dealer today ASAP?

Thank you for any advice.

 

Best Regards,

James.d

It will rise when hot.....Just top up with water when cold half way between low and high...Look in your handbook for the interval to replace the coolant mixture....

Thank you Transam. Plain water or distilled?

Edited May 15, 20179 yr by james.d

Take the rad cap off when cold if it is full no need to worry you can top the tank up at any time.Distilled if you have it. One of those 50 baht bottles from any battery shop. (but not the pink one).

 

I use regular tap water but it is my truck.  Don't worry about dilution as the usual mix is higher than necessary for cooling in  non-freezing country. 

Edited May 15, 20179 yr by VocalNeal

16 hours ago, james.d said:

Thank you Transam. Plain water or distilled?

Distilled is great as you will not need much and it costs next to nothing...I just use my home filtered tap water, must admit l can't remember the last time l did top it up, my ride doesn't seem to use the coolant, which is nice...

Just a tip to be aware of for anyone. If your vehicle is losing coolant and nothing is visible then check the EGR Valve. Horrible things they are.

More like check the head gasket
for a leak of coolant into a cylinder,and check that the engine oil hasnt turned white and foamy indicating a coolant leak into the sump.

EGR should only be recycling (some) exhaust gas back to the inlet manifold, maybe I misunderstand ?

57 minutes ago, transam said:

Distilled is great as you will not need much and it costs next to nothing...I just use my home filtered tap water, must admit l can't remember the last time l did top it up, my ride doesn't seem to use the coolant, which is nice...

Your vehicle should not use water ... unless you have a leak or the expansion tank cap is not 'tight'.

 

As said top up ... then keep a check on the level.

5 minutes ago, JAS21 said:

Your vehicle should not use water ... unless you have a leak or the expansion tank cap is not 'tight'.

 

As said top up ... then keep a check on the level.

On the cooling system there are many hoses were it is possible to lose a tiny amount of water over time via the hoses that is not visible to the eye. My fun ride was a prime example, but it did have a heater, another source of possible water lose....