Water Reservoir / Engine Coolant Tank

[Deadmanwalking]

Many thanks for taking the time to write such an in depth reply, its very much appreciated.

So far my coolant level has dropped to MIN after a couple of weeks from top up and I have topped up. This time around I shall give it the time to fall lower and call the garage or time to sit at MIN for ever and a day and leave alone. Cheers.   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Deadmanwalking]

It's now very clear to me that the coolant level in the expansion tank rises and falls according to pressure, temperatures and so on.

This morning I checked the expansion tank yet again and the coolant had risen to well above MAX level. I decided to remove some by siphoning out the excess. THIS WAS A VERY BAD IDEA.

Upon arriving at work I typed SWALLOW + ANTIFREE into Google and was shocked with the organic results. I rang Halfords up to enquire about exactly what I may have introduced into my system albeit in small amounts and spoke with their quality department.

Halfords supplied a data sheet and told me to get down A&E as quickly as possible and to take the data sheet with me. A&E process me at lighting speed, took it very seriously indeed.

Whilst I feel unashamedly embarrassed (you have no idea how much) at this moment in time, I don't want any member reading this thread and seeing my earlier posts and thinking that its OK to siphon antifreeze out, therefore, I'm happy to face further stick on this one.

As the thread author, I would now like to go back over my posts and remove the siphon bits to ensure another member doesn't do the same thing at some future point in time. Happy for the thread to remain as there is some very useful info here which may be of use to others.

[aaronjb]

Hasn't everyone tasted the sweet, sweet taste of antifreeze? Only me? Oh..  s;) s;)  Yes, it's not good for you at all! Although unless you weigh three stone and managed to actually swallow some, I'd not be at all concerned really.

It does pay to pay attention to the chemicals you're using, though, lest you end up like this guy:  m http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm m

[kentsmudger]

Ooo! Hope you don't suffer too much - That stuff is not good for humans    s:scared: :scared: s:scared:  

.... If it gets above Max or under too much pressure I believe it will vent, .....

[Deadmanwalking]

Thanks.

Hospital doctor told me that 90ml's of Antifreeze is fatal for a grown man, considerably less for a young child.  s:shock: :shock: s:shock:   After the Google search, I kinda went into shock to be honest. Normally when searching for health answers you have 5 years to make an informed decision, when the YAHOO top answer says "You have less than 24 hours left", you think "heck I'm a deadman waking".  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[uktotty]

My cat died from drinking antifreeze, he had a massive kidney failure, its not good stuff
RIP Sammy

[Deadmanwalking]

Sorry about Sammy mate.

[2 of the left]

What are you playing at? An earlier post on this issue told you that you couldn't syphon the extra water you had put in the system - That it will just dilute the coolant already in the system - Coolant is full of chemical agents which are dangerous if ingested by humans and animals - Leave the system alone - Should you get loss of heat from your "in-car" heater then you have a problem - Should you get your engine overheating - then you have a problem - until then - LEAVE THE EXPANSION BOTTLE LEVELS ALONE!!!  s:crazyeyes: :crazyeyes: s:crazyeyes:

[Anonymous]

You just reminded me of that tv ad "Step away from the vehicle!"  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Wabbitkilla]

Don't bother syphoning excess fluid, the car will vent it naturally.

These cars do tend to vary the level in the bottle quite a bit.
Usually the higher the percentage of water in the coolant the more variation you will get in the bottle depending on the weather and the engine temperature.
A lot of advice has been given here and seemingly ignored, just make sure it doesn't drop past minimum and if you're finding that you're having to top it up regularly because it is dropping past minimum take it to the garage if you're not willing to check the radiator condition. It could be a slight leak on the radiator, it could just need a drain and refresh of coolant.

[Deadmanwalking]

What are you playing at? An earlier post on this issue told you that you couldn't syphon the extra water you had put in the system

Hi, I did take this on board. The expansion tank on Friday morning was completely full. I was un-aware if the system self vents so decided to foolishly siphon out liquid, not water, I realise that water and coolant mixes. So now we are on the MAX level on Friday after siphoning. Saturday morning the expansion take was almost empty ! ! ! Just a little at the very bottom by the hose. So I filled up to maximum then put coolant on top shelf in far reaches of my garage out of my sight. One day later the coolant is still on max. I will monitor daily and as long as coolant level stays on min or max or anywhere in between then I will do nothing at all. If we go below min and continue going down then I'm off to Toyota for a cure.

As previously stated I'm rubbish with car maintenance and general car fiddling about. I appreciate all help but cannot do things like removing bumpers.

Don't bother syphoning excess fluid, the car will vent it naturally.

Excellent, thanks for that as I did not know 100%. Someone told me years ago "don't overfill as something will blow" and in 2012 this still stays with me. I've had many cars to date and I'm use to the coolant level staying in one place, i.e. max all year around, not flirting between min and max during the day.

If I had to guess at this point, I would say that I have no problem, I simply made one out of ignorance around the MR2.

[2 of the left]

If you find that you are having problems with heating the cabin - This could point to a damaged radiator(leaking) or hoses(leaking) or an outside chance of air in the system- Should the engine begin to overheat - then again it means the same thing - Leaks or air bubble- WARNING Do not attempt to drive your 2 if engine is overheating you will cause untold damage to the engine!!-Get your 2 transported to a garage for repair

[Deadmanwalking]

If you find that you are having problems with heating the cabin - This could point to a damaged radiator(leaking) or hoses(leaking) or an outside chance of air in the system- Should the engine begin to overheat - then again it means the same thing - Leaks or air bubble- WARNING Do not attempt to drive your 2 if engine is overheating you will cause untold damage to the engine!!-Get your 2 transported to a garage for repair

Many thanks for that, some people drive on the speedo, some on the rev counter and me on the temp gauge  s:D s:D    s:D s:D    s:D s:D   Been keeping a very close eye on it for the past two weeks. Takes about 3 miles for the needle to get to the horizontal position (half way) and then it just sits there for the rest of my 25 mile trip.

I'm just not use to the coolant level going up and down by 5mm's from time to time. Have stopped toying around now and will just watch the situation daily until I am happy that all is A ok.  s:D s:D  

Heating works fine by the way and thank you for the very clear warnings. Regards  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Deadmanwalking]

OK so finishing off on this thread, since buying the car at the beginning of the year, I have notice my coolant levels rising and falling without any real rhyme or reason. It can be a cold day, it can be a warm day. The engine may be cold, the car may have just driven 100 miles.

The level basically moves from one picture to the other daily, min to max. If I put more coolant in then sometimes the bottle will end up completely filled up, so now i leave it be.

After months of monitoring the situation I have now arrived at a point where I believe this will continue to yo-yo and I am totally relaxed about it. This post is really for others that find this thread later on when they have the same experience.

[AckersMR2]

Mine does exactly the same thing, I did try opening the hatch really quickly to try and catch the expansion bottle off guard but that didn't work either  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[normanh]

I have only added coolant in any significant amounts following a service with a planned coolant change, the strange thing is I have never experienced a poor heater but have wondered if the coolant loss was down to air entrapment in the cooling system. In over years I have added more coolant than oil -2 litres of coolant and just over a litre of oil in 58K miles. Currently my coolant level never changes in a cold state but I have noted it can go up and down slightly when hot.


norman