Coolant question

[coolbrze]

Was inside the hood today on my MX5800 & noticed the coolant level was just below the add mark (cold engine) on the recovery tank. Is this right? Do I need to check the level inside the radiator, & if so, where should the level be when it's cold?

 

[Scook222]

If you take the radiator cap off with the tractor not running it should be almost full to the neck of the radiator. You can crank the tractor and let it warm up and if it is still around low, you can add some coolant at to it. I have used some out of the reservoir after I put the heater in my rtv and a hose seeped alittle and just added alittle to it to put it back above the low mark. As long as it’s not losing any you should be fine, sometimes alittle can be sloshe out of the reservoir running on bumpy, uneven terrain.

 

[Fallon]

The coolant expands when warm & dumps out into the bottle. When it cools, it contracts & sucks coolant into the radiator from the bottle. Modern coolant systems use that bottle as an integral part of the cooling system & the correct spot to check coolant level. On some cars, there isnt even a radiator cap. Not much need to open the radiator cap unless there is a problem or you are flushing the system.

 

[oosik]

I've noticed that occasionally when out on the 80 I will loose a little coolant. Rough terrain - bouncing around - etc, etc. There may be a small wet spot on the front axle where the drain tube from the coolant recovery bottle terminates. If the coolant recovery bottle is less that full, when hot, I will add to the full mark.

I never remove the radiator cap unless I'm changing anti-freeze.