6 replies to this topic

[dayzee]

okay, so I have this car and it apparently has water/coolant in the radiator - but how do I see when it needs topping up?? If I open the radiator cap I cant see any water in it, but guess that just means its not totally full...

Do I have to drain the lot and refill it, or can I just top it up with a mixture of water/coolant till I see liquid in the top of the radiator.

[Boy Racer]

top it up

[simong6]

thats all i do

[Jammy]

I like to keep my water level so its about halway between the top of the fins and the bottom of the filler neck. It is good practice to totally flush the system through and fill with new water and coolant, especially coming into winter.

[mini-mad-dan]

i do too even though ive only had mine for one winter..........so far, but i tend to flush it for peace of mind, i have a tin roofed gargage, it often colder inside than out!

[dayzee]

great... make up a mixture of 25% coolant to 75% water - pour it in.. simple.
thx

[Dan]

I'd make that at least 33% antifreeze if I were you.

The correct coolant level is 1 inch of coolant visible in the radiator top tank. The old rads had a loop of wire in there which was an inch above the base of the top tank to show level but they stopped fitting that around '84 sometime.

As long as you can see some in the top when you open it then it's normally fine. It's not a fully sealed system in the Mini (before '93) so if you overfill it it will blow out the excess when it gets to temperature through the overflow.