Coolant Flush Concern

[Kate Andreozzi]

I got an engine coolant flush done today and noticed when I got home that my coolant resevoir did not have any coolant in it. The engine was still pretty cold, as the drive was 1 mile home. Also, there is still some residual dirt sitting at the bottom of the resevoir. Is the flush done from the resevoir or the radiator? And shouldn't there be SOME coolant in the resevoir at any point? Would you take your car back if you saw this? Let me know what you guys think!

 

[Gavin Allan]

They should have flushed the reservor. It is pretty easy to remove it and make it look clean.



What concerns me most is that they did not fill your truck up with enough coolant (or else there is a bad leak).



I would take it back and ask them to do the job correctly. You at the minimum need to have the reservoir cleaned and the coolant filled to the full mark.



If/when you drive your truck, please watch the temp gauge and do not keep running it if it overheats.



Otherwise if you do not want to mess with the repair shop, get some 50/50 coolant/ water mix and fill it up yourself. With the enging cold, remove the radiator cap and fill to the top. Replace the cap and fill the reserviour to the full mark. After driving it and/or the next day or so, check the reservior and fill it up again if needed. It may take a bit for the air to work its way out of the system.



I believe there is a section in the Owners Manual about changing the fluid that outlines the procedure to refill it and get it full.



Good luck.

 

[Richard L]

Kate,

Yes, you should have some fluid in the coolant overflow reservoir. After a coolant flush the normally refill the coolant through the radiator. This will often leave an air bubble trapped in the cooling system and may take several heating and cool down cycles to burp the air out of the cooling system. When the air is expelled, the engine is at operating temperature and the cooling system is at pressure. When the pressure reaches the radiator cap limit, a valve in the cap will allow the expanding coolant and trapped air to be pushed into the overflow tank where the air is burped out. When the engine cools the coolant contracts and the coolant in the overflow reservoir is sucked back into the engine to make up for the heat expansion and air that was trapped.



If your reservoir is emptly, you will most likely suck air back into the cooling system, which is not a good thing since air does not absorb as much heat as the coolant and can lead to hot spots in the engine.



It's not a critical issue, but I would go back and ask the shop that did the coolant flush to top off the system and make sure there is some coolant in the reservoir...more when the engine is hot and less when the engine is cold.



...Rich

 

[Vic Sorlie]

Kate, the shop you used didn't complete the job. Take it back and have them correct it.