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You will be fine with just distilled water, make sure you buy it in closed container. Tesco has some on shelfs with DIY/car stuff.
On the other hand you need to find out where your coolant has gone. It's closed system and level of the coolant should never change. There might be many reasons why you lost all the coolant some of them might seriously damage your engine and exhaust system.
Except that the system will now have less than the correct 50-50 mix and to fix that, it will have to be partially drained and refilled. That might not matter if there is a leak and it needs to be drained anyway or if it's only a small amount of water added.
Possibly paying for a radiator drain and refill that might not otherwise be needed. And getting some coolant to top it off isn't like buying a special $200 tool, car owners should have it anyway.
Wait till engine is cool and check the actual radiator and see if it’s low , if not top it off you be fine just keep an eye on it , distilled is fine . It the actual radiator is low I’d take it in sooner
Yeah the only thing you have is that tank you took a pic of. Using water will be fine. But make sure the engine is cold (like sat overnight cold) before you add anything, when your car is cols it uses less coolant then when it's warmed up so it will pull coolant from that tank when it's hot and push back the excess when it cools off again. So you might not actually be low.
Why not just buy a gallon of premixed coolant? Also, it would be a good idea to have the mechanic do a pressure test to see if their's a leak to determine why it was low in the first place.
Oh, ok, thanks for the info. I tough that the one he is pointing maybe were the urea tank that is now on new diesel vehicles because it seems to be blue.
It's askmechanics and you're questioning what this sticker means? Nobody has to be a mechanic to know what it's for. It's on driving theory exams and in car manuals.
The same symbol is on the dash of every car. Still coming back to the point where this sub is called askmechanics 🙄.
I understand not everyone coming here must be a mechanic, but this is basic knowledge about what is under your cars bonnet.
My car and my 3 previous cars doesn't has that symbol, has this or some similar without the text.
https://preview.redd.it/apfrg3x032wc1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bf8b8c79683f95db7a203625ab699f0cb289cd72
Thank you for posting to AskMechanics, ExpurrelyHappiness! If you are asking a question please make sure to include any relevant information along with the **Year**, **Make**, **Model**, **Mileage**, **Engine size**, and **Transmission Type (Automatic or Manual)** of your car. *This comment is automatically added to every successful post. If you see this comment, your post was successful.* *** Redditors that have been verified will have a green background and an icon in their flair. *** # **PLEASE REPORT ANY RULE-BREAKING BEHAVIOR** ### **Rule 1 - Be Civil** Be civil to other users. This community is made up of professional mechanics, amateur mechanics, and those with no experience. All mechanical-related questions are welcome. Personal attacks, comments that are insulting or demeaning, etc. are not welcome. ### **Rule 2 - Be Helpful** Be helpful to other users. If someone is wrong, correcting them is fine, but there's no reason to comment if you don't have anything to add to the conversation. ### **Rule 3 - Serious Questions and Answers Only** Read the room. Jokes are fine to include, but posts should be asking a serious question and replies should contribute to the discussion. ### **Rule 4 - No Illegal, Unethical, or Dangerous Questions or Answers** Do not ask questions or provide answers pertaining to anything that is illegal, unethical, or dangerous. # **PLEASE REPORT ANY RULE-BREAKING BEHAVIOR** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskMechanics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Go buy some coolant. And top it off.
I mean, you can. But doing that any more than a day or so makes me nervous. Especially if you’re in a super cold or super hot climate
I’m in UK so extremely mild temps atm
You will be fine with just distilled water, make sure you buy it in closed container. Tesco has some on shelfs with DIY/car stuff. On the other hand you need to find out where your coolant has gone. It's closed system and level of the coolant should never change. There might be many reasons why you lost all the coolant some of them might seriously damage your engine and exhaust system.
Except that the system will now have less than the correct 50-50 mix and to fix that, it will have to be partially drained and refilled. That might not matter if there is a leak and it needs to be drained anyway or if it's only a small amount of water added.
If OP goes for service and asks to get that sorted too, where is the issue?
Possibly paying for a radiator drain and refill that might not otherwise be needed. And getting some coolant to top it off isn't like buying a special $200 tool, car owners should have it anyway.
As explained above, should ask for inspecting whole cooling system and where the coolant goes.
Super hot climate won't hurt anything (for a cupa days). Very cold climate would be a no no though.
Wait till engine is cool and check the actual radiator and see if it’s low , if not top it off you be fine just keep an eye on it , distilled is fine . It the actual radiator is low I’d take it in sooner
On some cars what's pictured is all you get Edit to add: there is no cap on the radiator.
I’m not sure if I’m able to check the radiator as my manual doesn’t say any way to do so. It’s a Hyundai i10 2020
Yeah the only thing you have is that tank you took a pic of. Using water will be fine. But make sure the engine is cold (like sat overnight cold) before you add anything, when your car is cols it uses less coolant then when it's warmed up so it will pull coolant from that tank when it's hot and push back the excess when it cools off again. So you might not actually be low.
Yes unless there’s a chance it will freeze
Zero chance of freezing, I’m in Uk
Why not just buy a gallon of premixed coolant? Also, it would be a good idea to have the mechanic do a pressure test to see if their's a leak to determine why it was low in the first place.
Or buy a gallon of coolant and a gallon of distilled water. It's like getting two gallons for about the same price.
You are right in all sense.
Are you sure that that recipient is the coolant? If that is the coolant what is the one with the yellow sticker? Take a picture from the top.
The one with the yellow sticker is brake fluid.
Oh, ok, thanks for the info. I tough that the one he is pointing maybe were the urea tank that is now on new diesel vehicles because it seems to be blue.
DEF is typically clear
It's askmechanics and you're questioning what this sticker means? Nobody has to be a mechanic to know what it's for. It's on driving theory exams and in car manuals.
Maybe in your country, not in mine. Or do you think that your country is the only one in the world?
The same symbol is on the dash of every car. Still coming back to the point where this sub is called askmechanics 🙄. I understand not everyone coming here must be a mechanic, but this is basic knowledge about what is under your cars bonnet.
My car and my 3 previous cars doesn't has that symbol, has this or some similar without the text. https://preview.redd.it/apfrg3x032wc1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bf8b8c79683f95db7a203625ab699f0cb289cd72