How to Check Engine Coolant Levels

Part of the Video Series Basic Car Tune Up

Viewing videos requires the latest version of Adobe's Flash Player.
Get the latest Flash player.

Maintain the life of your car with regular maintenance and tune ups. Learn how to check the engine coolant levels with expert auto maintenance tips in this important free car repair video.

Rating:
Views: 3,306
Comments: 0 (comment now)

Favorited: 1 | Add to Favorites

Tags: auto mechanics, car, car maintenance, maintenance, overhaul, vehicle
Bookmark at:

All Videos in the Series, Basic Car Tune Up

Member Comments

Video Transcript

How to Check Engine Coolant Levels
Hi! My name is Nate McCullough on behalf of expertvillage.com. In this clip we are going to talk about one of the maintenance items involved in a vehicle tune-up or major overhaul. The item we are going to talk about is checking of the vehicles coolant level. You are going to want to check the coolant level in the overflow jug which on this particular vehicle happens to be located right here. This is your overflow jug on this particular vehicle. You can see they make these out of clear plastic on purpose. If I give it a wiggle, you can see where the coolant level is. This engine hasn’t been run in several hours and is definitely cold. As you can see, my coolant level is a little low and I need to top some off. Whenever opening the cooling system, you want to make sure the engine is cold. If you open the cooling system when the engine is hot, you are going to release the pressure which will cause the coolant to rapidly boil and explode all over you and has potential to give you third degree burn. Most of them will be labeled with caution so do pay attention to that. On this particular vehicle, we’ll just give it an unscrew here and sat her down. I’ve got some water in an old 2 liter; go ahead and fill it up for you. You really want to use a 50/50 mix between coolant and water. It’s the summertime here in Michigan so I’m not quite worried about it freezing yet. All right. Now you can see my reservoir is now full. When it comes to coolant types, you have two kinds in the automotive world. You have an ethylene glycol, which is the green stuff and you have a propylene glycol, which is the orange stuff. The orange stuff or the propylene glycol last for a lot longer and is used by most General Motors vehicles. The trouble with them is you can’t mix the two. You can’t mix ethylene and propylene glycol. If you do, it turns into a greenish type of goo that will require the services of a special mechanic to flush that system out. Like I said don’t mix the kinds of coolant between the green and the orange.

About the Expert

Expert: Nathan McCullough graduated from Nashville Auto-Diesel College with a Grade Point Average of 3.5 and received their craftsmanship award and honor seal. Read More