Hey everybody,

Me being me, I figured I'd check the fluids on my car. Last time I took it to midas was a few months ago, I'd say november / december. But I'm currently in between jobs so I barely drive, maybe once a week for a few miles. A damn shame!

Anyway, while the car was cold, I checked the fluids and noticed that the coolant reservoir was extremely low, I mean I'm talking about BELOW MINIMUM! Now, like I said-- I took it in to Midas just a little while ago. So either they lied, or I'm leaking coolant somewhere, but I couldn't see how that has happened unless it all drained out on the first couple days, because I see no coolant on the ground in the garage.

Step 1-- I'm assuming I should refill it and see if they just forgot to.. is there a particular brand that you all use when it comes to coolant?

Step 2-- If it all comes out again, I will be able to tell and if so, besides fixing the problem, I was thinking of doing a superflush as seen in this video:



Also noticed I smelled a hint of gas while checking the oil.. What's the best way to make sure or keep tabs on whether or not I'm burning oil? My G is a 2005 G35 Coupe MT. It's just past 70k miles, and I usually take it in to Castrol, and I've also had it inspected by 3x mechanic within the months after I've bought the car (because I'm a nerd and want to make sure everything is running in tip-top shape)... and they've said that everything is perfectly fine with the car and they didn't see any problems.


What do you guys think? Thank you very much!

 

Oh also here is the picture of where I checked the coolant level (circled in red):

 

Best way to keep tabs on OC is to check it every other gas fill up, and as for the coolant, it sounds like your cooling system was thirsty and just wanted to drink some extra coolant!

Yay, air gone!

Fill coolant up a bit until it's below the max line and keep an eye on it. Keep dropping? Leak, or consumption.

 

What he said..... 1 thing to note though is that leaks can sometimes be VERY hard to detect. The under engine cover can pretty much stop you from seeing anything on the garage floor. It's plastic and can actually absorb small amounts oil so if you have a slow leak you may not know it. This shouldn't be as big a problem for an aqueous solution like your coolant, but you may want to lift it, get under, remove the cover and inspect the bottom hose.

 

Thanks a bunch guys! Is there a go-to coolant other than OEM?

 

Coolant is coolant.

 

Thanks

 

Oh my young padewon I see you have much to learn about coolant.

OP there are different types of coolant and for the G just make sure what you're buying is green and you'll be golden. Also make sure you don't put concentrated coolant in your radiator, it needs to be a 50-50 mix of coolant and distilled water. You can buy the 50-50 mix but it's cheaper to buy the coolant and then distilled water and mix them yourself. Do not use tap water as it has impurities that can build up and clog radiators. I also have an 06 GTO that uses a brand of coolant called DexCool and it's orange. I believe it's made for GM vehicles but I could be wrong. You do not want to put that type in the G it would be a bad idea lol.

 

Yeah I just see all this crap on other threads-- should just go ahead and pay attention to what I know. Right after post I went out and picked up the coolant and distilled water seperately. I noticed that after returning home (with the engine warm), the coolant was just above the minimum level line. I'm going to fill it up about 3/4 of the way and keep tabs on it. Thanks for the help

 

Also remember you're checking the overflow reservoir, best place to check is in the radiator. Let the engine cool, remove the cap and take a peep.

 

Where do I buy a peep?

Coolant is coolant. Until you go Euro.

 

You want coolant without silicate. You can use Nissan or Valvoline Zerex for Asian vehicles, which is about half the price of OEM. You can buy it pre-mixed or do it yourself and if you want to know if you have a leak. Go rent a pressure tester from one of the stores, hook it to your radiator, radiator cap, and then pump it up to about 18-21 PSI and see if anything is leaking out.