Engine coolant

Mr. CooL ICE

The engine coolant in my 99 Punto was at the minimum level when I was checking it at the weekend, so I decided to see what was needed from the owner manual, and bought the needed coolant. Going by the manual, I mixed the coolant with water (50% each) and poured it in today...

Then I read the small print on the bottle... Apparently I'm not supposed to mix it with water. Can this harm the engine or cooling system in any way?



P.S. I havent run the engine for more than a minute long. Also, I know I should have read the bottle in its entirety first

mike65

Do you mean FIAT say you should only use pre-mixed coolant? Or that you should use some fancy de-ionised water?

Mike.

Seth Brundle

Its probably grand as it is - you just diluted your coolant. If you are concerned then just get some more from a motor factors (undiluted), siphon some of the current coolant out and replace with pure coolant - in theory the total volume in the system should be about 30:70 or 40:60 (coolant:water).
Just think of my sis who rang me to tell me how when topping up her seciento's oil she did so into the radiator!!! She drove more than 150 miles with it like that (to get home) before she could get it flushed! No bother to the engine!

Volvoboy

kbannon wrote:

Just think of my sis who rang me to tell me how when topping up her seciento's oil she did so into the radiator!!! She drove more than 150 miles with it like that (to get home) before she could get it flushed! No bother to the engine!

LOL!



-VB-

mike65

Thats not the first time I've heard of that sort of thing (oil into the expansion tank!)

Mike.

crosstownk

Oil will acts as a coolant to some extent, so it's not surprising to that a car survived such a mistake. I've had plenty of customers do exactly the same - I've even had a case of oil in the washer fluid bottle!! However, long term, sludge will build up in the coolant system and the oil will prove too much for the coolant pump over a period of time.

If you feel that you have the wrong coolant/coolant mix then simply drain it and fill with proper coolant. Feel free to flush with a coolant system cleaner if you wish.

EDIT : Jaysus Mike - your a mod again! Were the DT's too much to cope with?

peasant

crosstownk wrote:

I've even had a case of oil in the washer fluid bottle!!

http://www.clipfish.de/player.php?videoid=MzI2MDh8NDU0

mike65

crosstownk, it happened by accident (I suggested a forum and they made me a Mod! :eek: ).

Mike.

peasant

mike65 wrote:

crosstownk, it happened by accident (I suggested a forum and they made me a Mod! :eek: ).

Mike.

Yeah ..life's tough, innit?

crosstownk

Haha peasant - very good Only in the case I had there was a very weak trickle from the jets - the oil was thick and cold and too much for the pump. A litre of oil was put in and I reckon the washer bottle was empty when it happened.

@Mike - that'll teach ya to open your beak:)

JHMEG

The higher the water content in your coolant, the higher the freezing point is, and therefore the more prone to freezing up it is. But by the sounds of it you have probably only slightly increased the water content, so therefore you're safe enough (you might have risen it from -27C to -25C).

More importantly tho, tap water (containing salts and other impurities) will eventually corrode the cooling system, be it the radiator, thermostat, water pump etc. Again, you don't seem to have put a lot in, so it will probably be years before anything bad happens. But it will happen eventually. Moral: NEVER put tap water in your radiator... unless you're prepared to flush the whole system out.

Mr. CooL ICE

To expand on what originally happened...

On sunday morning, I drove over 100km to visit some relatives, then about 80km to where Im living, in Limerick. Torwards the end of the journey (about 5-10km from Limerick), I noticed the coolant temperature gauge was varying between above normal and pretty hot (in the red zone). I never take notice of that gauge, so I have no idea how long it was like that. I decided to finish my journey as I was so close, but as soon as I hit the slow traffic, the gauge went above the red. I pulled into a garage and had a look under the bonnet, where there was what looked like some steam (could have been smoke, but no smell). I was only 2km from my house, so decided to finish the journey. Over the last 500m or so, I noticed a noise from the engine whenever I accelerated (was verging on sounding a bit like a diesel engine), so I drove as slow as possible until I got home.

At this stage, I rang my dad to see what advice I could be given, and after some effin' and blindin', he said to leave it for 24 hours to cool down. He rang our local mechanic for advice and the instructions I was given were to check if the fan was working, and if not, to get a nearby mechanic to set the fan to constant until I could drive home and he could look at it. Another possibility given to me was damaged head gasket, which I hear is a not-so-nice job.

Anyway, Im afraid to move the car from the driveway for fear of damaging it (further), so after getting advice from elsewhere, the instructions I was given was to follow the fan cable back to the engine thermostat (somewhere on the engine block) and bypass the thermostat, but can't find the thermostat and can't find a picture of the punto engine block anywhere on the net.

So, basically what I'm asking is; Is the noise from the engine worth worrying about for a journey to the mechanic (hes less than 2km away)? Or can anyone give me advice on finding the thermostat?

edit -> For the record, the noise from the engine isn't loud and noticeable to most, but from behind the wheel, I notice it. Also, its the 99 SX variant. Also, the in-car heaters didnt seem to work for the last journey either.

zilog_jones

Maybe your thermostat's gone? Did you check the coolant levels again after it cooled down? It will rise a good bit when the engine is warm.

old boy

rattles may suggest water pump bearings

crosstownk

The noise may have just been the engine overheating - engines do that when they get too hot, and very soon afterwards they stop, usually with a blown head gasket. As old boy says, it could be the coolant pump.

The fact that the heating system is not performing correctly suggest that you have a leak. Fill the coolant resevoir with water once the engine is cold and start it. If you have no noises then it's unlikely to be the coolant (water) pump. Look for any leaks around the engine, radiator, hoses, etc - there should be visible signs of staining if you have a leak. If you can't see water p1ssing out from anywhere it may be possible to drive the car the 2km to the garage, provided you have no slow traffic to contend with and be sure to keep a close eye on the temperature guage. Pull over and let it cool down if it approaches the red zone. Top up after it has cooled somewhat. Be very careful when opening the resevoir cap on a hot engine - coolant will literally 'erupt' from the resevoir and scald you.

Get the car to your mechanic/dealer and have a pressure test done just in case there are any internal (head gasket) leaks. Once your satisfied that the problem has been cured, drain the water and fill with the correct amount and concentration of coolant.