littlewest

so my mustang (has cold air intake) recently, started getting hot, as a young first car owner, i didnt pay attention to the cooling fluid, that was almost empty.

what do i need to look for in this situation to make sure its okay, not just needing a refill?

my father told me to fill it up with water and watch it to make sure it doesn't leak over time. i have already done this, but what exactly do i need to keep tabs on, and how do i fix this?

warthogdriver

here are a couple of things you can do.
1. look for puddles under the car.
2. check the oil...make sure it looks ok...if it looks like a milkshake the coolant is leaking into the oil...not good.
3. look at hoses and waterpump for a coolant trail..could be a white stain or coolant trail. it will leak slowly but burn off before it hits the ground.

hope that helps.

petrock

I wouldn’t put straight water into the cooling system. You want a 50/50 mix of water/antrifreeze. The anti-freeze has anti-rust properties so your block doesn’t rust from the inside out. It also acts as a lubricant for the water pump as it spins. If you put straight water into the cooling system, I would do a cooling system flush and re-fill with 50/50 water/antifreeze. Pick up a couple jugs of pure antifreeze, not the 50/50 pre-mix, and two gallon jugs of distilled water (I get distilled water from my local grocery store), and a large measuring cup and make your own 50/50 water/antifreeze mix. The 50/50 pre-mix is good in a pinch, but its more expensive compared to mixing your own.

As far as what to look out for, just make sure the coolant level doesn’t go down over time like your father suggested. Cooling issues sometimes take a while to diagnose and fix. The first step in overheating issues is to figure out if you have a leak. Good luck...