Every car I had before my 98Z, I added coolant directly to the radiator.

Anyway recently my coolant light would go off which I know is unreliable, but I decided to change it yesterday. I also decided to check my coolant level which ended up being very low. So I figured I needed to add a little more coolant. (had my system flushed over 1.5 years ago.).

So I added some to the coolant reservoir. How long will it take the coolant to migrate from the reservoir to the radiator? My car is not overheating... Or do I have to add coolant directly to the radiator? (BTW I"m adding DexCool or whatever that expensive GM approved stuff is).

 

you want the radiator to be full up to about 1in to 1/2in from the top. and then fill the reservoir up to the mark that it says on the dipstick kinda thing. don't forget to bleed the system!

 

it doesn't migrate. If your radiator is low you need to add to the radiator. The over flow is just that, As the level in the rad rasies it will flow into the over flow, as it lowers in the radiator it will be pulled back in. But the raditator needs to be full first for this to happen.

 

I used to just add the coolant to the radiator and call it good, so how do I bleed the system? Thanks for the advice, the manual sort of confused me when I looked up adding coolant, I thought it said to add it to the reservoir if the car is not overheating.

 

LT1 or LS1 car? LT1's are a pain in the **** to bleed but my LS1 was easy, pretty much just fill up the radiator after the thermostat opens then dump a bunch into the overflow and put the cap back on, it'll burp the air out.

if you do this on an LT1 however you'll blow a headgasket

 

It's a 98Z so that would be LS1, so I'm lucky here. What makes the thermostat open? Yes, I'm a newbie when it comes to looking under the hood. (biggest mod, changing battery cables, LOL).

 

Heat.

 

Ok smart guy , so how do I get it heated up to where when I open the thing it doesn't spray me with hot steam, or do I just run the car with radiator cap off and just keep on giving it coolant.

 

Just let the car run with the radiator cap off.

 

Yeah, just idle it until it gets warm enough for the thermostat to open, keep the coolant in the radiator filled. If it start to overflow, put the radiator cap on.

 

Thanks everyone. Normally, I'd just go out and experiment, but I care more about this car than my previous car (Chevy Citation,LOL)...

 

From your first post I think adding coolant to the over flow was correct. You said your car isn't overheating but the level in the resevoir was low. Over time coolant will evaporate from the resevoir and need to be added.

 

Get this... I started my engine with the coolant cap off and withing 30 seconds coolant started coming out of the radiator so I put the cap back on. WTF? I just put in a new sensor. Could my coolant be dirty and just need flushed. Oddly enough the reservoir was very low yesterday and I filled it. Today whenever I drove, I'd get a low coolant light... The car runs at around 180 to 190 degrees (stock thermostat).

Any ideas? Also the coolant light does not come on immediately, usually 2 minutes after I started driving.

 

Last question, can dirty coolant set off the sensor? The reason I ask is that when I start the car now, the sensor does not come on immediately, but up to 10 minutes after I start the car. I only added coolant to the reservoir and not to the radiator, because the radiator spit up coolant when I tried to add more making me think it's already full...

 

Guess what? The coolant can go from the reservoir to the radiator... My coolant light no longer comes on and the level in the reservoir dropped and is now constant. Go figure....