Lost Some Coolent Messing Around... - BMW Forum

schneider252 · 11-30-2004, 08:20 PM

I was messing around and by not knowing to much about the engine itself I took off a hose running from the radioator to the engine. Green shit ( coolent) spilt everywere. It wasnt enough to empty it out, but it was a nice chunk of fluid.

The coolent was just flushed and changed and anitfreeze was put in. Can I just go to the store and buy some anyold coolent and stick some in or will it be a bad thing with the antii-freeze stuff in.

Im kinda clueless on this matter, The only other thing I have done conserning the motor was replacing the sparkplugs and putting in a cone filter. All my time has been devoted to paint/body work on the car so far so give me a break :P

Thanks!

3serbmdubya · 11-30-2004, 08:55 PM

i would say yes go to store, but i probably would get owned by everyone on these forums. so go to the dealer pay the extra 5 bucks and get some coolant for you bmw

1985bmw325e · 11-30-2004, 09:09 PM

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flush out your coolant and put bmw coolant ONLY.

schneider252 · 11-30-2004, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 3serbmdubya@Nov 30 2004, 08:55 PM
i would say yes go to store, but i probably would get owned by everyone on these forums.* so go to the dealer pay the extra 5 bucks and get some coolant for you bmw

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Quote:

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flush out your coolant and put bmw coolant ONLY.

It was just replaced 5 days ago and antifreeze was put in also. Why would I do it all over again? It was done at a euopean machanic shop so it might have bmw coolent. Can i just put more in? Does it matter if i mix 2 different types of coolent? Will it be safe to drive now since I emptied a good amount of coolent?

bmwcrazy · 11-30-2004, 09:29 PM

Its best if you dont mix 2 different antifreeze. Choose one that you think is best and stay with it.

1985bmw325e · 11-30-2004, 09:44 PM

just b/c it came from a european mechanic shop doesn't mean they would put BMW coolant. I go to a european mechanic as well (obviously since it is a bmw) when i have certain problems when tools are not at hand and they dont even use BMW coolant. Trust me, just flush it out and use bmw coolant. I had my coolant flushed out 6 months ago and when i found out they put some green crap coolant in my car i flushed it out myself and put bmw coolant. you dont want phosphate deposits lurking in your engine.

guywithblack88e30 · 11-30-2004, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 1985bmw325e@Nov 30 2004, 09:44 PM
just b/c it came from a european mechanic shop doesn't mean they would put BMW coolant. I go to a european mechanic as well (obviously since it is a bmw) when i have certain problems when tools are not at hand and they dont even use BMW coolant. Trust me, just flush it out and use bmw coolant. I had my coolant flushed out 6 months ago and when i found out they put some green crap coolant in my car i flushed it out myself and put bmw coolant. you dont want phosphate deposits lurking in your engine.

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yeah alot of mechanics use cheaper stuff they get more of a profit that way, i know a mechanic that uses $.99 store stuff. oh and what the difference between bmw coolant and prestone or better???

WarNox · 12-01-2004, 03:48 AM

there probably isnt much of a difference, maybe just a little. i dont think the bmw coolant will make ur engine run any better but it would probably be more expensive as it would say "bmw" on the bottle! but then again u never know, maybe bmw put some "special" sutff in their coolant that makes only the "bmw" engines perform better!

OutOnBail · 12-01-2004, 06:50 AM

thermodynamically increase in coolant temperature increases coolant pressure... Coolant flow is driven by pump... so coolant temperature and pressure must fit the pump requirement...

Basically we can't judge how good or bad is the refrigerant, one good way to see its performance whether it suits ur car is by running ur engine and observe the temperature raise behaviour. If ur car'e temp reading shows rapid increment when u start ur engine, u gotta watch out... then if thing seems normal, simply run ur car for few hours in ur spare time and observe again...

Some may say the coolant may damage ur pump, that's right if u put freak crazy wrong coolant (in this case i would rather say refrigerant)... For example, if u change ur coolant with comercial air cond refrigerant, u may damage ur pump... like u pump up swamp using water pump... but in ur case, u say u go to one proper autoservice, i believe u r OK.

One good news for u, coolant is not simply used as a engine heat exchanger, the same flow is also used in ur car's air cond system... normally car has about the same air cond output let`s say 20degrees C then the vehicles' manufacture may use about the same pump and coolant... slight different does not matter... like u pump up coconut juice with water pump =) see wat i mean?

U dun have to go to BMW house for every single problem... like when u change ur oil, u can use Shell, BP, Caltex, etc...slight different makes no big deal... (you are not performance racer) =)

schneider252 · 12-01-2004, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by OutOnBail@Dec 1 2004, 06:50 AM
thermodynamically increase in coolant temperature increases coolant pressure... Coolant flow is driven by pump... so coolant temperature and pressure must fit the pump requirement...

Basically we can't judge how good or bad is the refrigerant, one good way to see its performance whether it suits ur car is by running ur engine and observe the temperature raise behaviour. If ur car'e temp reading shows rapid increment when u start ur engine, u gotta watch out... then if thing seems normal, simply run ur car for few hours in ur spare time and observe again...

Some may say the coolant may damage ur pump, that's right if u put freak crazy wrong coolant (in this case i would rather say refrigerant)... For example, if u change ur coolant with comercial air cond refrigerant, u may damage ur pump... like u pump up swamp using water pump... but in ur case, u say u go to one proper autoservice, i believe u r OK.

One good news for u, coolant is not simply used as a engine heat exchanger, the same flow is also used in ur car's air cond system... normally car has about the same air cond output let`s say 20degrees C then the vehicles' manufacture may use about the same pump and coolant... slight different does not matter... like u pump up coconut juice with water pump =) see wat i mean?

U dun have to go to BMW house for every single problem... like when u change ur oil, u can use Shell, BP, Caltex, etc...slight different makes no big deal... (you are not performance racer) =)

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thanks for the info and same for everyone else. Most likely the stuff wasnt that good that was put in, and they riped her off on the price. I cant wait till the car if officially mine after my mom is done driving it after the winter. Then I can do all these things by my self without worring about having the car ready for her to drive the next day.

The coolent line is about an inch away from the marker right now. Im guessing it will be a little less than that since the Reservoir curves up. I might want to add a little bit of water, that should do it. Or just call up the damn machanics and ask what kind they used. I guess I'll just run the car for a while and watch the temp gauge

TMac325is · 12-01-2004, 04:47 PM

one day when me and my friend were messing around with my engine i did the same thing, we pulled a tube that was running to my air box? and then coolant went everywhere, i was pissed

but yeah then i started my car and i was low on coolant, so i just put in some quality stuff from the autoparts store and its been working just fine for like 4 months now