Changing coolant..

[rivet0r]

I bought a new thermostat, ready to put it in.. but I want to make sure I change the coolant properly on my 90 Laser RST. How do you know if you're putting 50/50? Or is there no exact way, and have to make a guess?

 

[botlfed]

eyeball it....it's not gonna hurt if it's 45/55...
i saw some the other day that was premixed and ready to pour at autozone.

 

[rivet0r]

What about the coolant in the container under the hood?

 

[Defiant]

The cooling capacity's about 7 quarts, figure 2 gallons. 50/50 is really a bit too much antifreeze, you're best at 30% AF until it snows- water cools better.
It won't hurt a thing to put a gallon of antifreeze in the engine, then buy a couple gallons of _distilled_ water from the grocery store, top up the engine with that, and fill the overflow tank with it. As the engine heats up and pumps out the excess, you'll mostly lose water, and the mixing will take care of itself.
Or, do the same with a gallon of the pre-mix and distilled water, you'll wind up at just the right mix for summer in SoCal.

 

[hoffman]

water is what actually does the cooling. anit-freeze keeps the water from doing just that in the winter. if you are in a very temperate (hot) location, add a bottle of "water wetter".

but it should be closer to 60 parts water to 40 parts anti-freeze.