Losing Coolant

[parapaul]

My coolant warning light came on a little while back, so I checked it and found it was a bit low. About an inch below the 'MIN' marker in fact

Anyway, I topped it up with water, but noticed that there was a gunky, oozy, nasty, slimy mess that looked like it had leaked from one of the pipes and dripped down the outside of the coolant expansion tank. I cleaned it up and hoped for the best.

Bad move.

I noticed a smell while sitting in traffic yesterday, a kind of chemically burning smell. Checked the temp gauge on the dash, but no problem there, sitting at 90 degrees, same as always. The traffic started moving and the smell disappeared. I got home, popped the bonnet and there was more coolant residue down the side of the expansion tank.

I'm obviously going to get it booked in to have it sorted, but how much water is it safe to add to the coolant before it loses its antifreeze properties? I've already added about a pint from the other week - do I need to top it up with coolant this time or will water be OK again?

TIA

[glynn]

keep some mixed up just, and just add it to whats in the header tank

[merikiito]

Yep should put pre mixed coolant in esp now its getting really cold at nights

[parapaul]

Do I need Vx coolant, or will the Halfrauds own brand stuff mix OK?

[glynn]

as long as its the red stuff

[parapaul]

The stuff that's leaking is a yellow/green colour though....

[glynn]

The stuff that's leaking is a yellow/green colour though....

i though vx only used red/pink colour anti-freeze

[parapaul]

[poves]

I had this on my 3.2 , the oil cooler had failed and the cooling system was pressurising , forcing coolant from the header tank ( same symptoms as head gasket failure.)
The oil had spewed into the coolant which discoloured it and then clogged the coolant lines.
Not a nice job to sort mate , don't know what model u got but it's worth looking into the oil cap to see if theres any scum there as well.

[parapaul]

Thanks for that, I'll have a look. The oil was as clear as honey in July so it should be obvious...

Its a 2.8T BTW

Thank god for warranty, eh?