randy_tho

I've had the car about 6 months now. 10K on the clock. I noticed today that the coolant level is pretty much on the low line. This is on a cool engine. Last time I looked, about 3K ago it was just about halfway between full and empty.

How often is it normal to top the coolant off? I've had cars before that don't seem to lose this much.

I would only use coolant that meets the Ford spec as listed under the hood. Without having to go to the dealer and get some motorcraft, it looks like Valvoline and Peak both make some that would work.

I believe this is the one.
http://www.peakantifreeze.com/peak_g...time_5050.html

and

Zerex G-05
http://www.valvoline.com/pages/produ...asp?product=10

theedge67

It should not be losing any coolant. The engine does not "use" coolant, like it uses oil. Oil gets burned off, hopefully slowly...but it is inevitable. Coolant levels should not be going down at all unless there is a leak somewhere. Having said that, there are 3 possibilities here.

1) You have a leak that is tiny and hard to see/find. I had a leak in a radiator hose on an older car once that only leaked when the engine was hot. It was small enough that the hot coolant actually evaporated before it dripped, so it took me forever to find the darned thing.
2) You have an internal leak that is leaking coolant into the engine somewhere. Either it's going into the oil, or getting burned off in the cylinder.
3) You are reading the coolant level wrong, or while the engine is at different temps. Remember, coolant levels will change depending on engine temperature, the hotter the engine the higher the level will be.

red454

I noticed mine was a little low too - couldn't figure where the coolant went. Then I noticed the overflow ( on the rear of the reservoir) had some dried coolant where it had drooled over at some point...

Jayhawk

We bought our GT the last week of July, 2007. A week after having it home, i, too, noticed a low coolant level while checking under the hood. I could NOT find any kind of pool under the car, so i was mystified. I didn't detect the smell of coolant, either. Took it to the dealer to have a new battery installed (another story) and they changed a hose that had been overtightened at the factory. I checked the hoses and couldn't find a thing, but they changed the hose. It has been fine ever since.

randy_tho

So it should be at the low line on a cold engine and near the top on a warm engine?

It just seems like I remember it being near the top middle when it was new and now it sets at the low. Perhaps they overfilled at the factory and it has overflowed to where it needs to be?

theedge67

That is correct, usually the lines are for cold/hot levels. The bottom line is the cold line, the top is hot. Just keep an eye on it over the next several days/weeks/months. As long as it doesn't change you are good.