How often do you fill up coolant?

engineered wrote: ↑ Never. If you're losing coolant, you have a leak. Hopefully not in the head gasket.

My boy's had to top up theirs.

My CivicX over 4 years is normal and I tried doing a curb side at Honda. A lady called me back and basically said ^ this.

trixstar wrote: ↑ i might not be able to find it since I presume this could be a slow leak

How do you think a shop identifies a leak??? Your already shooting down ideas you have no idea about.
You pressurize it to the max your system holds and if there is an external leak, it will be found guaranteed. Look at any dried off coolant around engine. Usually it's do hot it will dry off before a drop ever touches the ground

trixstar wrote: ↑ I was looking at block testers with the blue chemical to detect blown head gaskets. Anyone know whether its effective or worthwhile? Just worried Mazda might not do anything about this issue. I’ve had bad experiences with Mazda’s service department at some dealers.

Yes they actually work 100%. Even the tiniest of head gasket leaks will be found this way. Trust me. Get the original one, I can't speak for any other brands

engineered wrote: ↑ Could be a leak in the cap, allowing steam to escape when it's hot, but the pressure test doesn't check the cap.

Yes it does. There are cap adapters and every pressure test I do or even heard of includes a cap test (which takes a while lot of 15 seconds)

There's a leak. A 19 should still have some warranty so I don't understand why this isn't going to the dealer to be documented and sorted out.

Side note: waiting for the EV fan club to show up and tell us they never add coolant.

We used to fill up a little on our 2006 4runner (just recent years)

Mazda said its normal and not to fill the reservoir tank. Said to leave it at the L mark. This doesnt seem right

Gutty96 wrote: ↑It's a pressurized, closed system, that can and will change its volume due to temperature changes. This is the reason for the reservoir tank, and why that tank has a low ( cold ) and a high ( hot ) marking. As long as the level stays between the 2, you are fine. That said, if it drops below the L mark, and stays there, it is leaking.

Ahh gotcha

I had to top off the coolant a couple times on my MK7 GTI. The thermostat housing is known as a weak spot on these cars. For whatever reason VW can't figure out how to make a thermostat housing that doesn't leak (I think they are on revision L or M at this point). I took my car to the dealer and they did a pressure test and found no issues.

on my W204 C Class I used to fill up once per 1-2 years. I tried to buy a jug of antifreeze one time from the parts dept of MB Markham, but the parts guy sent me to the service dept of MB Markham, they filled it up free of charge no question asked.Free is good. Must also happen to a lot of owners too.

I do. Either it is water pump issue or burning coolant due to high-pressure small displacement turbo engine.

bargain man wrote: ↑ I had to top off the coolant a couple times on my MK7 GTI. The thermostat housing is known as a weak spot on these cars. For whatever reason VW can't figure out how to make a thermostat housing that doesn't leak (I think they are on revision L or M at this point). I took my car to the dealer and they did a pressure test and found no issues.

Me too. Pressure test doesn’t guarantee whereas vw is known for water pump issues reported in Atlas lately.

my coolant level changes depending on when it's checked. After driving, before driving, cold, overnight. will be different but always somewhere between L and F.

trixstar wrote: ↑ Mazda said its normal and not to fill the reservoir tank. Said to leave it at the L mark. This doesnt seem right

At low level, you might not get heat on idle.

Do you smell coolant while driving from time to time? Small external leaks are not a concern. The main concern is coolant in the engine oil. Check the engine oil for coolant if you can't smell the coolant leaks.

the2ndme wrote: ↑ At low level, you might not get heat on idle.

Do you smell coolant while driving from time to time? Small external leaks are not a concern. The main concern is coolant in the engine oil. Check the engine oil for coolant if you can't smell the coolant leaks.

I don’t smell anything from the vents. On the last oil change, the oil looked normal. Nothing frothy or milk like.

trixstar wrote: ↑ I don’t smell anything from the vents. On the last oil change, the oil looked normal. Nothing frothy or milk like.

Blackstone's USD$30 oil tests include ant-freeze %.

Price/test breakdowns
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0
Source: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threa ... ck.305338/

"netParcel" can save you some money on shipping ( https://netparcel.com/home.action ).

engineered wrote: ↑ Could be a leak in the cap, allowing steam to escape when it's hot, but the pressure test doesn't check the cap.

Ohhhhhh I haven't thought about that. lol But I'll keep an eye on it

Z E R O !

I have an MK7 golf, so I check it constantly and top it off a couple times a year (common issue).

I think I topped up my coolant on my 2012 Camry once in the last 10 years. When I got the vehicle new, the coolant was not at full but mid way. The dealer topped it up and then I didn't need to do anything until they replaced the coolant at 160K. If you are adding coolant often, you must have a leak somewhere as modern vehicles should not be sucking coolant where the overflow tank would go from full to add within the coolant change intervals.