Club Cobra - Checking coolant in stock ERA expansion tank

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Checking coolant in stock ERA expansion tank

Just came across my mind that I have never checked the fluid (coolant) level in my car since I put it together 2/3 years ago. Can someone tell me the proper way to do this? What is normal at dead cold?

TIA.

So if you look in the expansion tank it should be roughly half full dead cold?

I have the typical FE expansion tank and also a closed system overflow tank. My expansion tank stays 100% full in conjunction with the overflow tank. If you have the overflow tank then yours shold stay full, to the very top of the tank. If it isn't, then there's a leak somewhere.

Or over time (years) some of the fluid could have evaporated?

Quote:

Originally Posted by 428street (Post 1160815)

Or over time (years) some of the fluid could have evaporated?

A little bit will escape, but not a whole lot. If you've dropped the level of coolant in your surge tank it likely is just the result of air pockets being passed thru (and the air pockets being replaced by coolant). No matter how carefully you burp the system, you always get a few pockets of air here, there, the heater, etc., that work their way through the system as you drive the car (it can take months). Just keep an eye on it -- I fill mine to about an inch above the hole at the bottom of the tank. If you have no puddles under your car, your oil does not turn to a Nestle Shake type goo, and you have no funky steamy smoke coming out of your pipes then don't even think that there is anything wrong. You should replace the coolant every three years or so with the good old fashioned conventional green coolant with distilled water from the grocery store. Throw in a bottle of Watter Wetter as well and think no more about it.