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Coolant/Expansion Tank Question

7K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  Milpol 
#1 ·
Hi there. I'm hoping for some advice about coolant/my expansion tank (apologies in advance, I'm a complete novice!). I was checking my oil yesterday and noticed the cap missing to the coolant expansion tank and there was virtually no coolant left (I've no idea how long it's been like that for!). Do I just need to top up the coolant and replace the cap? If so, does the coolant just go in the expansion tank or does it need to go somewhere else? I'm a bit confused as I thought normally coolant was in a tank with a screw top to keep the pressure whereas this is just a plastic flip cap. I've took a couple of pics so you can see the expansion tank as they seem to vary.

Any advice would be really appreciated!
 

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#3 ·
Looking at the image you posted of the expansion tank, I noticed your fluid is red ? I will stand corrected but the BMW coolant is Blue and mixed 50/50 with deionised or distilled water. I would be considering doing a complete coolant flush and refill. As far as the coolant level is concerned, once the system is bled, the coolant level should be on the low mark when the engine is cold, when the engine is at running temp, the coolant level should be on the upper mark, as its an R50 engine, the expansion tank cap is not pressurised The actual pressure cap in the photo is next to the red Batt cable (in the image). Pelican parts have a good DIY for changing the coolant on an R50 and R53 so its well worth reading the article. Replace the expansion tank cap and do a coolant flush is cheap insurance and will make sure there is no air trapped in the system if done correctly (Pelican parts article) and it is actually important to adhere to the 50/50 coolant mix as the engine temp is designed to run at that mixture.
 
#7 ·
I can understand a different coolant colour in the Peugeot engine but you would think that with the Triton motor there would be some consistency, its not as if its hard to obtain a colour word wide with different suppliers. Certainly adds to confusion when there is minimal content information on a lot of containers. Main thing to take care of if your not using BMW coolant is that its nitrite and phosphate-free.
 
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