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Topping up Anti Freeze?


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Due to a hose clip failure, I recently lost about 6 litres of coolant.  Being out in the sticks, I had to repair clip and added just plain tap water. 

Due to air trapped in the system, I have also had to top up with small amounts of additional water. So now, mixture is far too weak.

Question is, how do I restore the coolant to its normal 50/50 strength?

Can I just add neat anti-freeze?  Will it mix in eventually?

(Don't really want to drain and refill with correct strength if poss)

Advice appreciated.

 

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7 minutes ago, Rebotco said:

Due to a hose clip failure, I recently lost about 6 litres of coolant.  Being out in the sticks, I had to repair clip and added just plain tap water. 

Due to air trapped in the system, I have also had to top up with small amounts of additional water. So now, mixture is far too weak.

Question is, how do I restore the coolant to its normal 50/50 strength?

Can I just add neat anti-freeze?  Will it mix in eventually?

(Don't really want to drain and refill with correct strength if poss)

Advice appreciated.

 

 

Others will say differently but for the ENGINE (not central heating) you can add neat antifreeze, especially if you have a calorifier, as long as you give the engine a good long run to mix the antifreeze.

 

For the nay sayers, the reason this works is that the majority of engines have a thermostat bypass that allows some liquid to split off from the rest and take a shorter route back to the water pump. The calorifier has a similar effect, so given time it will all mix itself.

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1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Others will say differently but for the ENGINE (not central heating) you can add neat antifreeze, especially if you have a calorifier, as long as you give the engine a good long run to mix the antifreeze.

 

For the nay sayers, the reason this works is that the majority of engines have a thermostat bypass that allows some liquid to split off from the rest and take a shorter route back to the water pump. The calorifier has a similar effect, so given time it will all mix itself.

 

Thanks for the advice.

I do have a calorifier and the engine is an Izusu 42, so will do as you suggest.

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5 hours ago, Rebotco said:

 

Thanks for the advice.

I do have a calorifier and the engine is an Izusu 42, so will do as you suggest.

Have you got one of them cheap little pipettes for drawing off a sample and checking the mix?

Very Handy to have. 

I’ve only ever just added neat mix in to a coolant and let it mix over time. But my coolant is only for the engine. 
 

 

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4 hours ago, David Mack said:

You could always draw of a portion of the coolant, mix the antifreeze with that, then pour it back into the engine. That way it will be at least partially diluted when it goes in.

 

If there's enough room, that's what I will do.

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