Will coolant dumped in overflow tank/reservoir circulate?

[sunbeam]

Hi all,

I am running the coolant with 100% distilled + 150ml water wetter right now.

Wanting to add some coolant to run the air conditioner without freezing the water, perhaps 600ml of coolant concentrate.

Can I simply dump out the water from the overflow tank, add my coolant then drive the car a bit to circulate the coolant?

Not sure if the mirage uses an overflow tank vs coolant reservoir.


Thanks all and have a great day.

[Fummins]

Hi all,

I am running the coolant with 100% distilled + 150ml water wetter right now.

Wanting to add some coolant to run the air conditioner without freezing the water, perhaps 600ml of coolant concentrate.

Can I simply dump out the water from the overflow tank, add my coolant then drive the car a bit to circulate the coolant?

Not sure if the mirage uses an overflow tank vs coolant reservoir.


Thanks all and have a great day.

You lost me. Your air conditioner isn't going to freeze anything that's in the cooling system, even if for some reason it happens to be mostly or even 100% water.

The Mirage has an overflow tank. It's not pressurized or sealed. Pouring your juice in there won't do much good if you want it to circulate with the other kool aid.

[sunbeam]

You lost me. Your air conditioner isn't going to freeze anything that's in the cooling system, even if for some reason it happens to be mostly or even 100% water.

The Mirage has an overflow tank. It's not pressurized or sealed. Pouring your juice in there won't do much good if you want it to circulate with the other kool aid.

Hi Fummins,

Thanks for the reply.

So currently the system is 100% water and I thought that similar to an air conditioner in a house the lines can freeze in the air conditioner?

Not sure if this is possible but have read you need at least 10% coolant to avoid freeze up.

[Johnny Mullet]

The engine coolant needs to be an antifreeze to keep the engine and other parts from breaking when the water freezes and expands in the winter time.

[sunbeam]

The engine coolant needs to be an antifreeze to keep the engine and other parts from breaking when the water freezes and expands in the winter time.

Yes this is for summer only.

I read that if you dont have a bit of coolant the air conditioner coils can freeze up.

That may not be the case, but I did not want to bet with the car on it haha.

[Mark]

Yes this is for summer only.

I read that if you dont have a bit of coolant the air conditioner coils can freeze up.

That may not be the case, but I did not want to bet with the car on it haha.

I'm not following this very well?

Engine coolant keeps my engine cool.

A/C (freon/refrigerant) keeps my body cool.

I plan on using my factory OEM engine coolant for 8-years or approximately 100,000 miles/160,000 km.

Why would someone remove factory OEM coolant early & replace it with water (any time of the year)?

[foama]

@sunbeam: May I suggest reading the coolant section of the FSM!

Our engines are made by high-pressure die-casting, contrasting to previous comparatively crude methods. That requires a very special, aluminium and magnesium based alloy. That in turn needs the correct coolant which must be in the correct concentration. If not, the alloy will develop minute cracks, and we certainly don't want cracks in the engine block!

Btw, the famous Daimler/Mitsubishi joint-owned factory in Kölleda was designed and built around this technology, which was the most modern at the time. The 3AXX engines were initially designed there. Meanwhile Mitsubishi sold its share of that facility. In Kölleda they design and build most Mercedes/Daimler engines to this day.
Today, almost two decades later, Mitsubishi and many others use that technology in their various locations.