No Coolant in reservoir

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joker08

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I dont know anything about cars, I just drive. I have a 2014 Toyota Etios. Last month it was in for a service at toyota and they pointed out that there is no coolant in the car, only water, this was on their report. It didnt bother much because the car didnt complain, until yesterday when the coolant light started flashing.
I checked the reservoir and it has nothing in it. I had asked for a quote at toyota and they said its around R3000 to flush the old water or whatever is in there and put a new one in.
Do I just top up with water or do I buy coolant and fill up the reservoir? or should I take it to a local repair shop?
 
If there's no leak, just buy coolant from any spares shop or directly from Toyota (R120/L) and top up.
 
SHL said:
If there's no leak, just buy coolant from any spares shop or directly from Toyota (R120/L) and top up.
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when I googled it said not to mix coolant and water, I am worried if what toyota said about "no coolant, only water" is true, then it might ruin my engine. Is that true ?
 
joker08 said:
when I googled it said not to mix coolant and water, I am worried if what toyota said about "no coolant, only water" is true, then it might ruin my engine. Is that true ?
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also, I never have topped up the coolant before, and the car was bought second-hand, don't know what's in there already.
 
You can dilute coolant with water although it is not recommended with tap water purely because it contains minerals that can cause corrossion (long term issue), but it wont hurt the engine if you mix them.
 
joker08 said:
also, I never have topped up the coolant before, and the car was bought second-hand, don't know what's in there already.
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I have a much newer vehicle than you and check the coolant level with every 2nd fill up.

Add coolant to your coolant water bottle and top up to required level with water.

This is much cheaper than doing a radiator flush.
 
joker08 said:
I dont know anything about cars, I just drive. I have a 2014 Toyota Etios. Last month it was in for a service at toyota and they pointed out that there is no coolant in the car, only water, this was on their report. It didnt bother much because the car didnt complain, until yesterday when the coolant light started flashing.
I checked the reservoir and it has nothing in it. I had asked for a quote at toyota and they said its around R3000 to flush the old water or whatever is in there and put a new one in.
Do I just top up with water or do I buy coolant and fill up the reservoir? or should I take it to a local repair shop?
Click to expand...
3k to flush coolant is crazy, at least by my standards and how easy a job that is.
I would really want to know why there is no coolant in the expansion tank, but to start off with I'd fill with coolant bought from a spares shop.

I use THIS in my car.
 
Zuner said:
3k to flush coolant is crazy, at least by my standards and how easy a job that is.
I would really want to know why there is no coolant in the expansion tank, but to start off with I'd fill with coolant bought from a spares shop.

I use THIS in my car.
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Brought it to a local shop, The pump is leaking.
 
First did your car overheat, if yes, you might have a blown head gasket.

So it may be your car previous owner or yourself, never bought coolant and just topped up with water.

I would get a service manual just to double check where to drain the system from.

But the principle is simple, let the water out, throw coolant in at the radiator and resoivoir. Close the place you draining from when coolant is coming out. I.e. no more water is coming out and only coolant. Stop topping up when you hit the minimum.

Drive the car to get the coolant to circulate and recheck your levels. Then top up to correct levels.
 
joker08 said:
Brought it to a local shop, The pump is leaking.
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Replied before seeing this.

My first car had a broken water pump. Older guys told me to driver faster amd avoid stop go traffic, this will keep the car cooler. It worked.

I replaced the pump I think it was R250 and a family friend charged me R150 to do the labour.
 
The coolant light won't come on because there is no coolant, only if there is no liquid, so it is leaking somewhere. Take it back to Toyota for them to give you a proper quote. If the R3k is to fix the leakage and fill up on coolant then that is a good price, you can/should get a second opinion from a RMI service agent
 
joker08 said:
Brought it to a local shop, The pump is leaking.
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Something is definitely leaking. Pumps are cheap and easy to replace. Quote shouldn’t be too high.

The car is more than a decade old. No reason to spend dealer money on an easy fix.
 
Calkem said:
The coolant light won't come on because there is no coolant, only if there is no liquid, so it is leaking somewhere. Take it back to Toyota for them to give you a proper quote. If the R3k is to fix the leakage and fill up on coolant then that is a good price, you can/should get a second opinion from a RMI service agent
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Actually, the coolant light, if the car is fitted with a coolant level sensor, is supposed to come on when the coolant goes below a set level.

On some cars you can see the sensor on the bottle, as soon as the coolant goes belowit, the light comes on.
 
rh1 said:
Replied before seeing this.

My first car had a broken water pump. Older guys told me to driver faster amd avoid stop go traffic, this will keep the car cooler. It worked.

I replaced the pump I think it was R250 and a family friend charged me R150 to do the labour.
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Heard this as well. now here comes the sad part. You instrument cluster indicates water temperature. Not engine temperature.

Increasing the water flow cools the water down as heat does not transfer from the engine into the water. You are seeing a cooler engine but the engine is actually overheating if not at the correct level. then there is balanced flow between cylinders. equally cooling the cylinders. if you only have enough water splashing to cool the one where the Temp sensor is located the other 3 or 5 or 7 cylinders can overheat.

Ford Essex V6 loves to do this. As people punched out the Intake manifold gasket to increase water flow. when you wanted less flow equally to allow the heat to transfer out of the cast iron boat anchor.
 
TheChamp said:
Actually, the coolant light, if the car is fitted with a coolant level sensor, is supposed to come on when the coolant goes below a set level.

On some cars you can see the sensor on the bottle, as soon as the coolant goes belowit, the light comes on.
Click to expand...

I said that it doesn't sense if there is coolant, it senses of there is liquid. The coolant light should not go off if there is liquid e.g water.
 
rh1 said:
Replied before seeing this.

My first car had a broken water pump. Older guys told me to driver faster amd avoid stop go traffic, this will keep the car cooler. It worked.

I replaced the pump I think it was R250 and a family friend charged me R150 to do the labour.
Click to expand...
Another top tip is the heater, works like a charm and will save you a top gasket.
 
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On the only water and no coolant thing, antifreeze, especially the cheap type, does degrade over time, and touching the coolant no longer gives the oily touch.
 
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