Just a funny story to share

[Jon6873]

I was lucky in that I had my 02 intake gasket replaced with a week left on factory warranty back in March. Ever since I have been keeping a close eye on the coolant level. All is normal until I took a trip to Alabama last week. On the morning of the 780 mi return trip to Michigan, I checked the oil level and glanced at the coolant. To my surprise, it was down about an inch from normal. I was in shock. Intake going bad again? Head gasket going bad? Will I be able to get back to MI? My wife had to work the next day so I drove home constantly looking at the temp guage and praying. Got home without any troubles at 1am. Next morning went to check coolant level, to my surprise it was back at normal. Turns out because AL is very hilly, the driveway that I parked at was at a moderate slope so that the coolant was not level. Boy do I feel dumb and relieved at the same time. Not used to hilly terraine here in Michigan.

[cdru]

Don't forget that the coolant level will also raise and lower naturally based on what the coolant system is doing. A warm engine will naturally push out a little coolant as it heats up (thermal expansion of a liquid as well as any air trapped in the system) and a cold engine will suck in coolant (thermal contraction of liquid and air). It's best to always check and/or compare the levels at the same time parked on a level surface. Normally this is done with the engine cold.