cant see any coolant

ok as we know i have a 96 gsx , today decided to check my oil and antifreez because my afr guage was running real lean, i checked the oil level and its perfect, then when to took off the radiator cap and it looked dry inside , thats bad right? and should i fill it up agian till i can see coolant?

yes fill it up .

i think the normal fill spot is the coolant overflow. it won't hurt to put it there, since the car isn't overheating, it will cycle into the cooling system. you can also pour directly into the rad. cap if you are almost out, but there is no fill level indicator.

At the rad cap you fill to the top. If its real low you may nto be able to. I like to do it with the car running until the tstat opens. As it heats up some will spill over. Then let it cool, and top off. Or put the cap on hot and fill the bottle a bit over the fill line, since the cooling coolant will contract and pull from the overflow.

well im not sure if its extremly low or if its empty put the whole pipe where the radiator cap is at looks completely dry

If you are adding coolant directly to the rad, I would suggest doing this with the motor running. As you add fluid, rev your motor just a little bit(I hope you know where you throtle cable is) and u will see the coolant circulating. Once the coolant is at the top in idle, you're good to go. Also, your low coolant light (The Yellow house looking thing) should turn on if your rad is low on coolant.

That light is attached to a sensor in the reservoir, and says nothing about whats in the actual cooling system.

but if it's that dry, shouldn't it suck it all out of the reservoir therefore triggering the light??

gotgrip666: was there any coolant in your reservoir, or was that completely dry too?

i havnt looked but im asuming no mecause the hose witht the radiator cap was completly dry, would this be what caused my afr guage to run completly lean?

i don't know what kind of effect that would have of the afr gauge, but did you happen to check the temp. gauge, it should have been damn near pegged hot if it's that low.

The hell does coolant have to do with air fuel ratio? If you aren't overheating, you can stop worrying and just fill the overflow to fill until it stops emptying into the system. If you ARE overheating, use a method involving the car warming up and pour it in there. Shouldn't be too much to analyze.

I was wondering the same thing. I have never seen so much discussion over such small things as I have in the last 2 days here.

1) Open cap

2) Pour shit in

The hell does coolant have to do with air fuel ratio? If you aren't overheating, you can stop worrying and just fill the overflow to fill until it stops emptying into the system. If you ARE overheating, use a method involving the car warming up and pour it in there. Shouldn't be too much to analyze.


well im sorry joe that i dont know what excacly and how everything runs yet , this is my first dsm and ive only had it about 2-3 months , im going to check the res when i wake up then add coolant athen ill tell you guys if i find a leak or anything

I was wondering the same thing. I have never seen so much discussion over such small things as I have in the last 2 days here.

1) Open cap

2) Pour shit in


Ditto. Not to discourage you GotGripp666, but in your other post saying that you wanted to do your head, are you going to be doing the work? I mean as removing and installing everything again? If so I am not sure that would be very wise unless there is something significantly out of place.

well probally not the whole head unless the headgasket change doesnt solve my woo's

I located he resivior today , its in front of the passenger front tire, theres coolant in it but there is 2 hoses going to it and one of the hoses is cut and just hanging there. should this line have to go somwhere?

no, the one that is just hanging is the overflow hose and the other is the one for the coolant to flow from the engine to the resirvoir something must be wrong if it's not sucking the coolant into the engine. try taking that hose off and seeing if it's plugged. you'll also probably need to add some coolant to the engine.

yea im going to buy some tomorrow, any suggestions on what brand? And how much water should i mix in or is that only for the summer?

It doesn't matter what brand as long as it's the green stuff. I always mix 50/50 which is a good summer and winter mix. If you really want to get serious about harsh temperatures, it should have a good mixing table on the back of the jug, but 50/50 is a really safe one. Just don't do straight antifreeze! Without water, straight antifreeze freezes at -8 Farenheit.

Are u sure it needs to have water in Antifreeze/coolant? The 1 i bought said it dont need water or did i read it wrong...?

I believe that some come kind of "premixed", but I would never at coolant without adding water as well. Plus, if it will work, why not do it...you get more out of the jug anyway.

Yea today i got off my lazy ass and bought some antifreez, funny think is i dont think i needed it. Because befor i went to put in the coolant i added a lil water first before i started the car and put in the antifreez, thing is when i started it the antifreez i guess was just a lil low because it started rushing threw the pipe after it was turned over. If anybody has any more comments if im mistaken or somthing then feel free to tell me.

Not sure what you are getting at, I just dont understand. Does that mean that you are not low on coolant? Look in your resovoir, if it is empty or close to you need to add some.

Not sure what you are getting at, I just dont understand. Does that mean that you are not low on coolant? Look in your resovoir, if it is empty or close to you need to add some.


no its like 75 % full

i'm not sure if it's supposed to "rush" through the pipe. that might be because it was too low to see with the car off but when the waterpump is puming it through the motor, it will obviously pass through the pipe giving it the "rushing" look. i would add some more water until it's almost to the top of the water neck.

we;; it was at the top but when i started it , it turned green

ok i think there was a misunderstanding, mostly my fault. when i said put in more water, i actually meant put in more water/coolant mixed together. fill up the water neck with the antifreeze/water. it should stay at the same level when you start it if it's full, if it keeps going down, keep adding more water until it stays at the same level. then add the mix to the overflow tank untl you reach the "FULL COLD" level. the motor should now have suficient water, and the overflow tank should also be full.

I would leave the cap off and idle the motor for 10 minutes while adding coolant/water when necessary. That way you know its full. Put the cap back on, and make sure the overflow is full. When it cools down it will contract and should pull more fluid out of the reservoir. If its not doing that it may be time for a new cap. Fuck it, caps are 7 bucks anyway, just replace it.