topping up coolant

[izuaff]

for the first time in 4 years , i had a "low coolant" warning light on (my car is 325 e90). So i grabbed 1 Petronas long life coolant since most workshops were closed due to Raya festival. Get home and open the coolant tank and to my surprise, saw nothing inside. Wait for the engine to cool down and top up coolant + water.But later found out that must bleed the air out while topping up and i didn't do that.My question:1)Will my car experience overheating? since i'll be driving to my hometown.2)Has anybody here done it?3)What is the proper procedure to bleed the air out ?thks to all sifus

 

[B33mEr]

I think you should be more worried where did your coolant went rather than the bleeding procedure. I'd suggest you visually inspect (start the car and don't tun on the aircond) for leakage around the radiator, hoses and expansion tank and check your driveway for water ... If everything looks fine drive it around for 30 mins and see whether the warning lights comes out again.

For bleeding procedure i'm sure 5 mins of google will give you the answer

 

[izuaff]

after an hour driving around, not seeing a drop of leakage anywhere. But still curious.did the coolant just evaporate? the tank looked empty when i first opened it this evening.....

 

[B33mEr]

after an hour driving around, not seeing a drop of leakage anywhere. But still curious.did the coolant just evaporate? the tank looked empty when i first opened it this evening.....

Thus the inevitable question ... When was the last time you check the level or top up your coolant? Over time the water in the coolant will evaporate. Did you check your expansion tank?

 

[izuaff]

I "assumed" that when I sent for service, the workshop knew what to check and I didn't bother to ask about coolant....my mistake

 

[haywire]

I "assumed" that when I sent for service, the workshop knew what to check and I didn't bother to ask about coolant....my mistake

Never opened the coolant expansion tank yourself to check the levels? Maybe its a good idea to start doing so now...:4:

 

[izuaff]

i can report that after 800 km and stuck in the jam for 9 hours, so far no problems...the coolant level has not dropped off....the car is amazing to drive again...but will continue to monitor

 

[astroboy]

Few of us kena d. I panic and use tap water to top up. Didn't measure how much tap water I pour in also. Didn't bleed also and car seems ok until now. I however bought a bottle of 1.5L BMW coolant standing by now.

My Toyota also I prefer to let SC do the coolant replacement because I don't know how to measure the 50:50 coolant water mix ratio. It seems if water ratio exceed coolant, the white powder will form and clog the radiator. If that's true, then my BMW got problem because I top up with tap water which upset the 50:50 coolant mix ratio..

How does foreman measure the 50:50 ratio at the outside workshop? What's the recommendation of coolant change interval. 1 year? 40k km?

 

[B33mEr]

Few of us kena d. I panic and use tap water to top up. Didn't measure how much tap water I pour in also. Didn't bleed also and car seems ok until now. I however bought a bottle of 1.5L BMW coolant standing by now.

My Toyota also I prefer to let SC do the coolant replacement because I don't know how to measure the 50:50 coolant water mix ratio. It seems if water ratio exceed coolant, the white powder will form and clog the radiator. If that's true, then my BMW got problem because I top up with tap water which upset the 50:50 coolant mix ratio..

How does foreman measure the 50:50 ratio at the outside workshop? What's the recommendation of coolant change interval. 1 year? 40k km?

It doesn't have to be a perfect 50:50 ratio it can be off by a factor of 5 or even 10 it would still be ok i.e. 40/60 (coolant/water).... The recommended interval is every two years for flushing and changing coolants though it wouldn't hurt if you do it at a shorter interval.

 

[astroboy]

Few things I read about coolant:

~ coolant color, red dye represent long life coolant, I wonder how long is long.. It seems Volvo was initially using blue dye but now green d.
~ BMW blue coolant contains plastic conditioner to preserve the many plastic component in our cooling system.
~ Avoid coolant containing phosphate because it react with our hard water and form deposits
~ best use "air suling" or distill water for the mix and avoid SYABAS pipe water due to the high mineral content.

What about RO water? confirm no mineral, bacteria also can't live in it. RO water is very "corrosive" or unstable molecule, would it cause any damage to our cooling system?

 

[B33mEr]

Few things I read about coolant:

~ coolant color, red dye represent long life coolant, I wonder how long is long.. It seems Volvo was initially using blue dye but now green d.
~ BMW blue coolant contains plastic conditioner to preserve the many plastic component in our cooling system.
~ Avoid coolant containing phosphate because it react with our hard water and form deposits
~ best use "air suling" or distill water for the mix and avoid SYABAS pipe water due to the high mineral content.

What about RO water? confirm no mineral, bacteria also can't live in it. RO water is very "corrosive" or unstable molecule, would it cause any damage to our cooling system?

Distilled water is the best as it contains no minerals to caked up on the radiator or on the cooling system. Am not sure about RO waters though. As for BMW coolant contains plastic conditioner ... That's the 1st time i've heard about it where did you read it?

I've been using Toyota long life coolant so far so good :top: before that i was using water wetter ... Might go back to water wetter if budget permits

 

[vincentpoh]

I just send to service my car today . I just realize that we need to check coolant water like every week once . My friend is BMW professional service car . He teach me everything that is important .

Why coolant water will evaporate after a while ?
BMW car is more hot than others normal car about 40% . In a car the most important is water and oil . If no coolant water might linked to your engine overheat .

When should i check coolant water ?
In the morning after overnight cooldown( don't start engine yet ) .

Yes u cant by pipe water as inside have mineral . Can u put purely RO water ? the answer is no . Gotta put coolant water plus RO .

 

[ahmz]

I just send to service my car today . I just realize that we need to check coolant water like every week once . My friend is BMW professional service car . He teach me everything that is important .

Why coolant water will evaporate after a while ?
BMW car is more hot than others normal car about 40% . In a car the most important is water and oil . If no coolant water might linked to your engine overheat .

When should i check coolant water ?
In the morning after overnight cooldown( don't start engine yet ) .

Yes u cant by pipe water as inside have mineral . Can u put purely RO water ? the answer is no . Gotta put coolant water plus RO .

I normally top up with BMW coolant (the blue color, 1.5 ltr bottle) and any bottled drinking water (RO, not mineral water) at a ratio of 1:1.