I never check but had opened the hood to clear a fly which was stuck and then saw that the coolant level is just below "MIN" level , engine is cold , i checked after i drove 1 mile

Should coolant be at "MAX" level when engine is cold

Temp gauge is showing correctly, its not gone above the half way .... will it affect the engine if driven like this for long as i just came back from a roadtrip last night.

Hope there is no overheating ?

Please advice asap

 

It's the opposite...level should be lowest when the engine is cold & highest when it's been running. Mine is fairly low as well when the engine is cold (right at the min. level)....I saw this too & wondered why it's so low, but the car doesn't run hot, so shouldn't be an issue. Not sure you want yours to be below the MIN, but I can't imagine you're doing harm if your car is running at normal temp (temp gauge is at or below the median level).

I'm sure others will chime in for you on this topic.

 

It's most likely OK... The coolant in the overflow reservoir can evaporate over time and fall below the MIN level when cold. What you need to make sure of is that the coolant level in the radiator is full... if that was low, then I'd be worried. Otherwise, just fill up the overflow reservoir back to the MIN line when the car is cold using some distilled water or coolant.

 

Thanks guys

So the coolant should be at "Min" level when engine is cold. I just read the manual and it says that coolant should be at "Max" level when engine is cold. I'll check it again, maybe i read wrongly ???

Mine is fractionally below the "MIN level" . What should i use to top it off little bit, should i buy coolant or distilled water, if so which make ?

 

It really doesn't matter so long as you don't overfill it... if it has too much coolant in there, it will make a mess when the engine is hot... just keep it in the middle and you will be fine. Just use distilled water to top it off...

 

If the coolant level is low then the indication would be that the temp would go above the median level towards H. Is that the only sign of engine getting overheated.

 

the overflow reservoir is just that... an overflow reservoir for the cooling system. What really matters is that the coolant level of the radiator is full. You coolant level is most likely not low. When your car is cold, undo the radiator cap and check your level there. That should always be full. The level in the reservoir may fluctuate a little bit and that is normal. It's not going to cause you to overheat or anything.

You will know when and if the engine overheats... your Temp gauge will shoot up fast...

 

Where can i buy distilled water. Tried Auto Zone and Pepboys and they dont have it and they were telling me that distilled water is same as bottled drinking water and i think distilled water is a lot different.

 

Try your local supermarket. Most of the larger chains sell distilled water in their bottled water section. You've probably seen it everytime you go in to buy bottled water but never noticed it. And it is very different from regular water, it's boiled into steam and then reclaimed to remove any trace impurities that a regular water filter won't get out. If you've ever drank triple distilled Vodka and then tried one time distilled vodka you'd feel the difference.

 

Any drug store will carry distilled water.

Make sure that when the engine is cold the coolant level is at the min level.
That way after the engine warms and the coolant expands, the level goes to Max. and it doesn't overflow....

C.

 

Thanks a lot everyone for the help

I bought distilled water fm the grocery store and topped it off till it reach MIN level when engine was cold.

Next time if the level goes down again should i again top it off with distilled water or use antifreeze coolant

 

If you only put in a few ounces, the distilled water should be fine. If it keeps getting low, though, get it checked as it should not go low quickly. There might be a small leak at a hose clamp, for instance.

The distilled water, as scewthisnoise said, and described so clearly, is very different from bottled spring water. Grocery stores sell it mainly, I think, for use in irons so that there is less mineral build-up in them. When I used Zaino on my G, I used distilled water to rinse it after washing to avoid spotting.