Today I was in the Advance parking lot replacing my cabin filter and figured I would check some fluid levels. I noticed that there was no coolant in the over flow (degas) bottle. The car was at operating temperature.
I am not overheating and the cap is not spitting coolant. There are no leaks. I would have never known except for a visual inspection, as the car is running perfect. I have not had a chance to look at the level when cold. I will check tonight after work.

Is this normal>?

Thanks!

 

Not at all normal, coolant should be between the lines when cold and higher when hot. Over time coolant will evaporate and you will need to add some, when was the last time you were under the hood?

 

Nope, not normal. Rather than just add coolant I would have your cooling system flushed. Every car should have that service performed at least once every 5 years (3 if the weather is severe). Ford charges about $100 and they do a reverse flush with a machine that will continues to flush the system until the fluid comes out clean.

You can do it yourself, just be sure you open and drain all the low points in your system, or you will have leftover crap in the system.

 

Here is what I would do for starters. When the car is cold, fill the degas bottle to the cold fill area using 50/50 antifreeze and distilled or demineralized water. Then run the car to operating temperature, with the heater on. When the car is cold, check the level again. You may need to add some more coolant because of air in the system. Do this for a few days and see if the level stabilizes.

If it stabilizes, keep a watch on the level fairly frequently. You didn't say whether you ever checked the level after the last flush, or even if you ever had it flushed. If the flush wasn't done correctly, the level might have been low for some time.

 

I had it flushed almost two years ago, because the cap was bad and spitting. I check it every so often, but recently saw this issue. Thanks!

 

You either have a leak somewhere, or air in the system. A flush wouldn’t fix either of those problems. Good luck...

 

My old mustang was doing something similar. It was called after-boil, the moving fluid in the system when the car is running keeps the fluid cool. but shut the car off and out it comes from the cap.

My fan was not coming on. radiator fluid was hot and caused after-boil but not hot enough to overheat the car.

 

I topped it up. We will see what happens. Thanks!

 

Sooooooooooo.... did you replace the cap?