Dumb question about Kia Pride radiator

>I've inherited a Kia Pride, and I need to sort out anti-freeze for the
>winter. I know very little about cars. The reservoir that feeds the radiator
>is nearly empty, so I was going to mix some antifreeze with water and put it
>in there. But someone who knows about as much as me suggested that I needed
>to put the antifreeze in the radiator directly, and putting it in the
>reservoir wasn't good enough. Are they right?

First, look at the owner's manual to see what it says about adding water to the
radiator.
If you don't have a manual, look at the overflow tank. Does it have markings on
it that say Min and then Max? Is there a warning on the cap not to open when
hot? If yes, just add new fluid to the overflow tank to bring it up to the Max
level. The tank is part of the pressurized system. It's not really an overflow
tank in today's cars but an expansion tank. The fluid continually recirculates
with the rest of the water in the radiator.
Add a 50-50 mix of anti-freeze and regular water. The mix protects better than
anti-freeze alone.
Lots of good info he
http://www.partsamerica.com/Auto101Cooling1.asp
http://www.prestone.com/tips/index.html
You've lost a lot of antifreeze somewhere along the way. That means there's a
leak somewhere in the system. Buy a bottle of radiator stop-leak and add that.
The stop-leak does need to go directly into the radiator if there is a cap on
the radiator. If not, add it to the expansion tank.



http://www.madmousergraphics.com
web design, print design, photography

On 18 Dec 2004 18:03:12 GMT, Adrian > wrote:

>Richard Buttrey ) gurgled
>happily, sounding much like they were saying :
>
>>>I've inherited a Kia Pride, and I need to sort out anti-freeze for the
>>>winter. I know very little about cars. The reservoir that feeds the
>>>radiator is nearly empty, so I was going to mix some antifreeze with
>>>water and put it in there. But someone who knows about as much as me
>>>suggested that I needed to put the antifreeze in the radiator
>>>directly, and putting it in the reservoir wasn't good enough. Are they
>>>right?
>
>> Putting it in the reservoir isn't good enough for two reasons.
>
>> Top up your radiator directly
>
>How?
>
>Clue :- There's very few cars from the last couple of decades that have a
>cap on the rad itself. Virtually all have the cap on the header tank.
>
>While I could care less about whether a Kia Pride is one of these (and I'm
>sure Steve Walker has the right idea on what to do with the loathsome
>device), I'd be very surprised if it had a "radiator cap"


Fair comment. If there's no radiator cap then he'll have to use the
reservoir and make room by draining off some of the system.

Me, I've got a Triumph Spitfire - with a proper radiator cap - which
is a doddle to work on. In fact there's almost enough room in the
engine bay to hold a dance. :-)

Cheers.
__
Richard Buttrey
Grappenhall, Cheshire, UK
__________________________

On 18 Dec 2004 18:03:12 GMT, Adrian > wrote:

>Richard Buttrey ) gurgled
>happily, sounding much like they were saying :
>
>>>I've inherited a Kia Pride, and I need to sort out anti-freeze for the
>>>winter. I know very little about cars. The reservoir that feeds the
>>>radiator is nearly empty, so I was going to mix some antifreeze with
>>>water and put it in there. But someone who knows about as much as me
>>>suggested that I needed to put the antifreeze in the radiator
>>>directly, and putting it in the reservoir wasn't good enough. Are they
>>>right?
>
>> Putting it in the reservoir isn't good enough for two reasons.
>
>> Top up your radiator directly
>
>How?
>
>Clue :- There's very few cars from the last couple of decades that have a
>cap on the rad itself. Virtually all have the cap on the header tank.
>
>While I could care less about whether a Kia Pride is one of these (and I'm
>sure Steve Walker has the right idea on what to do with the loathsome
>device), I'd be very surprised if it had a "radiator cap"


Fair comment. If there's no radiator cap then he'll have to use the
reservoir and make room by draining off some of the system.

Me, I've got a Triumph Spitfire - with a proper radiator cap - which
is a doddle to work on. In fact there's almost enough room in the
engine bay to hold a dance. :-)

Cheers.
__
Richard Buttrey
Grappenhall, Cheshire, UK
__________________________

In article > ,
Adrian > wrote:

>Clue :- There's very few cars from the last couple of decades that have a
>cap on the rad itself. Virtually all have the cap on the header tank.

Eh? My 1999 certainly has the cap on the radiator; you can see the
core through the neck when it doesn't have enough fluid in it. So
does my 1997. The overflow tank just has a simple plastic cap, not a
pressure cap.

In article > ,
Adrian > wrote:

>Clue :- There's very few cars from the last couple of decades that have a
>cap on the rad itself. Virtually all have the cap on the header tank.

Eh? My 1999 certainly has the cap on the radiator; you can see the
core through the neck when it doesn't have enough fluid in it. So
does my 1997. The overflow tank just has a simple plastic cap, not a
pressure cap.

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 16:21:19 +0000, Richard Buttrey
> wrote:

>On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 15:09:51 -0000, "John Rowland"
> wrote:
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>I've inherited a Kia Pride, and I need to sort out anti-freeze for the
>>winter. I know very little about cars. The reservoir that feeds the radiator
>>is nearly empty, so I was going to mix some antifreeze with water and put it
>>in there. But someone who knows about as much as me suggested that I needed
>>to put the antifreeze in the radiator directly, and putting it in the
>>reservoir wasn't good enough. Are they right?
>
>Putting it in the reservoir isn't good enough for two reasons.
>
>1. The reservoir is exactly what is implies, a reserve supply of water
>to top up the water in the radiator if it drops for whatever reason -
>maybe a small leak, or usually evaporation through the expansion pipe
>which feeds into the reservoir.
>Until the water in the reservoir finds its way into the cooling system
>your car won't be protected.
>
>2. The reservoir is likely to be quite a small % of the overall
>capacity of the cooling system. Even if you put neat anti-freeze in
>the reservoir and it all found its way into the cooling system, it
>would become heavily diluted and not give you the protection you
>probably need.
>
>Top up your radiator directly with whatever % of anti-freeze your
>manual suggests. You may need to drain some water out to make room for
>the anti-freeze. It
>
>>Furthermore, the instructions on the bottle of antifreeze suggest it should
>>be mixed with de-ionized water. This surprised me - I know that the battery
>>has be topped up wth de-ionized water, but I thought tap water was fine for
>>the radiator.
>>Thnaks!
>
>This is probably being ultra cautious, and a sign of the times we live
>in where everything we attempt to do is heavily caveated to avoid
>potential liability claims.
>
>I've never ever bothered with de-ionised water in a radiator.
>I'm somewhat surprised anyway, since de-ionised water is looking for
>ions and if your radiator is aluminium then the de-ionised water will
>gradually corrode the aluminium. AIUI.
>
>Regards

The reservoir is connected to the rad by a hose; if the rad isn't
leaking, as the coolant heats up and expands, it will go into the
reservoir; as the coolant cools and contracts, the cooling system will
suck coolant out of the reservoir into the radiator.
So, indeed, the fluid in the reservoir does get mixed into the cooling
system.
That's why the reservoir is there in the first place, not just as a
convenient place to store some water.

--
Bill Funk
Change "g" to "a"

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 16:21:19 +0000, Richard Buttrey
> wrote:

>On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 15:09:51 -0000, "John Rowland"
> wrote:
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>I've inherited a Kia Pride, and I need to sort out anti-freeze for the
>>winter. I know very little about cars. The reservoir that feeds the radiator
>>is nearly empty, so I was going to mix some antifreeze with water and put it
>>in there. But someone who knows about as much as me suggested that I needed
>>to put the antifreeze in the radiator directly, and putting it in the
>>reservoir wasn't good enough. Are they right?
>
>Putting it in the reservoir isn't good enough for two reasons.
>
>1. The reservoir is exactly what is implies, a reserve supply of water
>to top up the water in the radiator if it drops for whatever reason -
>maybe a small leak, or usually evaporation through the expansion pipe
>which feeds into the reservoir.
>Until the water in the reservoir finds its way into the cooling system
>your car won't be protected.
>
>2. The reservoir is likely to be quite a small % of the overall
>capacity of the cooling system. Even if you put neat anti-freeze in
>the reservoir and it all found its way into the cooling system, it
>would become heavily diluted and not give you the protection you
>probably need.
>
>Top up your radiator directly with whatever % of anti-freeze your
>manual suggests. You may need to drain some water out to make room for
>the anti-freeze. It
>
>>Furthermore, the instructions on the bottle of antifreeze suggest it should
>>be mixed with de-ionized water. This surprised me - I know that the battery
>>has be topped up wth de-ionized water, but I thought tap water was fine for
>>the radiator.
>>Thnaks!
>
>This is probably being ultra cautious, and a sign of the times we live
>in where everything we attempt to do is heavily caveated to avoid
>potential liability claims.
>
>I've never ever bothered with de-ionised water in a radiator.
>I'm somewhat surprised anyway, since de-ionised water is looking for
>ions and if your radiator is aluminium then the de-ionised water will
>gradually corrode the aluminium. AIUI.
>
>Regards

The reservoir is connected to the rad by a hose; if the rad isn't
leaking, as the coolant heats up and expands, it will go into the
reservoir; as the coolant cools and contracts, the cooling system will
suck coolant out of the reservoir into the radiator.
So, indeed, the fluid in the reservoir does get mixed into the cooling
system.
That's why the reservoir is there in the first place, not just as a
convenient place to store some water.

--
Bill Funk
Change "g" to "a"

"Richard Buttrey" > wrote

> I'm somewhat surprised anyway, since de-ionised water is looking for
> ions and if your radiator is aluminium then the de-ionised water will
> gradually corrode the aluminium. AIUI.




I run a steam engine, and water quality is often a subject of debate among
fellow owners. There is a theory that de-ionised water leeches ions from
the metal, but there is scant evidence to support this theory.

I use collected rainwater in the engine, and this would be ideal to use in a
car radiator, although tap water would be fine if you live in an area where
your kettle does not fur up with chalk. Even then, using water previously
boiled in a kettle to remove chalk should be fine.


--
Regards, Vince.

Truck Driving In Russia- www.coventon.co.uk

"Richard Buttrey" > wrote

> I'm somewhat surprised anyway, since de-ionised water is looking for
> ions and if your radiator is aluminium then the de-ionised water will
> gradually corrode the aluminium. AIUI.




I run a steam engine, and water quality is often a subject of debate among
fellow owners. There is a theory that de-ionised water leeches ions from
the metal, but there is scant evidence to support this theory.

I use collected rainwater in the engine, and this would be ideal to use in a
car radiator, although tap water would be fine if you live in an area where
your kettle does not fur up with chalk. Even then, using water previously
boiled in a kettle to remove chalk should be fine.


--
Regards, Vince.

Truck Driving In Russia- www.coventon.co.uk

John Rowland wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I've inherited a Kia Pride, and I need to sort out anti-freeze for the
> winter. I know very little about cars. The reservoir that feeds the radiator
> is nearly empty, so I was going to mix some antifreeze with water and put it
> in there. But someone who knows about as much as me suggested that I needed
> to put the antifreeze in the radiator directly, and putting it in the
> reservoir wasn't good enough. Are they right?

How much are you missing? If it's not a lot just use water. Does the
reservoir have a pressurized cap? If so, you don't need to worry. If it
does not, open the one on your radiator and check the level. If it's low
too fill to the top at the same time as you fill the reservoir.

>
> Furthermore, the instructions on the bottle of antifreeze suggest it should
> be mixed with de-ionized water. This surprised me - I know that the battery
> has be topped up wth de-ionized water, but I thought tap water was fine for
> the radiator.

I've never used anything else than tap water.

>
> Thnaks!
>
Ulf