Hi all,
I've inherited a Kia Pride, and I need to sort out anti-freeze for the
winter. I know very little about cars. The reservoir that feeds the radiator
is nearly empty, so I was going to mix some antifreeze with water and put it
in there. But someone who knows about as much as me suggested that I needed
to put the antifreeze in the radiator directly, and putting it in the
reservoir wasn't good enough. Are they right?
Furthermore, the instructions on the bottle of antifreeze suggest it should
be mixed with de-ionized water. This surprised me - I know that the battery
has be topped up wth de-ionized water, but I thought tap water was fine for
the radiator.
Thnaks!

Signature
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7069/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes
lherault@bu.edu - 01 Jan 2005 03:32 GMT
I may be wrong but I believe the way this system is intended to work is that
as the coolant heats and expands, excess goes into the bottle. As it cools,
the fluid in the bottle is sucked back into the radiator. If the car has a
problem, such as a leak or bad thermostat it is possible that so much
coolant has leaked out that filling the bottle will not be the best way to
go. When the engine is completely cold, remove the radiator cap. If it is
full then you can top up the overflow reservoir directly. If the radiator
is low, top up both but check to see why the radiator is that low.
Ron L