Screen wash in coolent tank

Atomix

ozdemirozgur wrote: »

with a hose? how much liquid normally in that tank?

You need to take all the liquid out, stick a hosepipe in it, and suck it out, then replace with antifreeze up to the max. It all has to come out, obviously, good job you didn't drive anywhere...

Atomix

patman99 wrote: »

If you run the car, it will reach operating temperature and any excess coolant will be expelled through the over-flow tube.

It's not coolant it's screen wash....

bod1467

The expansion tank is there to do exactly what it says ... provide space for the coolant to expand into when it gets hot (from the engine).

As said above, siphon out (most of) the contents of the expansion tank (get someone to help/do it if you don't know what siphon means) then refill the expansion tank with antifreeze up to the MAX mark.

ozdemirozgur

let me try tomorrow morning, to empty it and fill again with antifreeze. Where I can find vauxhal approved antifreeze? does antifreeze something require to be mixed with water etc? or just top up ? This is not something I have done before, what might happen if I just ignore it and leave as it is ?

ozdemirozgur

maybe I should call RAC as this was given when I bought the car? Does this create any problem with the warranty of the car etc?

Spicy_McHaggis

ozdemirozgur wrote: »

let me try tomorrow morning, to empty it and fill again with antifreeze. Where I can find vauxhal approved antifreeze? does antifreeze something require to be mixed with water etc? or just top up ? This is not something I have done before, what might happen if I just ignore it and leave as it is ?

Antifreeze is antifreeze as long as the lowest temp is ok.

bod1467

Just check the handbook for the specification of antifreeze required. You don't need Vauxhall-approved antifreeze, just some that matches the spec defined.

This might help:

https://www.wilcodirect.co.uk/Vauxhall-Zafira%20Tourer/category/coolant-fluids

Tilt

If it's a brand new car bought in the last few months, it's probably got the correct mix of anti-freeze in it anyway.

Joe_Horner

Spicy_McHaggis wrote: »

Antifreeze is antifreeze as long as the lowest temp is ok.

Not any more it's not. Most new cars use OAT based antifreeze (either straight OAT, which is orange, or mixed with silicone inhibitors which can be almost any coulour) instead of ethylene glycol (the "old" green stuff). You can mix them but it's a bad idea long term. So, while you don't need "Vauxhall spec" as such, you do need the right type for the car, which should be mentioned in the handbook.

Halfrauds, any other accessory shop, your dealer, or any local motor factors will be able to provide suitable stuff.

Syphoning out the stuff that's in the expansion tank and refilling with correct antifreeze is a good idea because most screen washes are based on methanol. Methanol has a boiling point of about 65 degrees C at 1 atmosphere of pressure, which is well below the running temp of an engine, and only a little highher that the 2 atm or so that a warm cooling system will run at. So it's likely to boil if you leave it in there, which can cause a vapour lock in the cooling system and overheating.

It probably wouldn't happen because it'll probably blow the excess out before it circulates but, for the sake of 5 minutes syphoning it'sprobably not worth the chance!

custardy

Personally I would be draining,flushing and putting in new coolant.
Okay it likely wont do any harm. However its such a new car I wouldnt be skimping.