Running a vehicle almost out of coolant >_<

[columnshift]

Driving back inherited vehicles from something semi recent I nearly ran one almost totally out of coolant without realizing it. (too depressed, sad, unfocused to figure out the problem before i'd put on 1500 miles) It's an early 2000's ford vulcan duratec v6 and it had almost no heat (was very intermittent) and was running hot the whole way. Spent alot of time at the top of the white (no dang temperature figures just L and H) and near end of trip went to the actual red on a few times - no steam ever came out, but it could well have been steam internally that didn't vent if it was too low.

When I realized there was no coolant in the overflow tank i poured in a GALLON of distilled water before it even had water stay in there (which still wasnt enough/below cold levels while hot) and then tried to top off with about half a gallon of 'universal' antifreeze - not sure if it's even up now just was too dark to see and too tired to care by that point. (I could not tell which color antifreeze was appropriate, hoped it'd mix with the distilled in the overflow tank after a few miles but didn't)


The added water and antifreeze stopped all lack of heat and overheating problems, car runs fine. Except for some obvious questions now:
- What did overheating the engine possibly screw up, what should I watch for or test when I finally get a chance (things will mostly be parked until spring when I hope to look at what all I have)
- Will the possibly 'wrong' antifreeze (ford cautions against any antifreeze but their own) screw up anything mostly sitting there and not seeing much driving. (may need it for some driving but cant get around to flushes or anything until spring)
- Since I don't even know how much was still in the vehicle (i'd assume if I put in 1.5 gallons not much!) and I didn't pour in premix, but first water and then pure antifreeze, any suggestions on how to correct or test mixtures to not freeze and destroy everything before spring. One internet posting somewhere suggested I shouldn't pour straight antifreeze into the overflow tank yet I clearly have too much water now.

 

[01rangerxl]

The Vulcan 3.0 and Duratec 3.0 are actually two completely different engines. Nothing shared between the two at all.

Is this a Taurus/Sable? If so, it may need a thorough cooling system check and flush at the least. Not because of what happened, but because it's a Taurus. Taurii of this generation had many cooling system problems and need frequent coolant changes to mitigate the problems. One member here has a thread about installing a coolant filter on one of these cars.

If it's a Vulcan Ranger, check for leaks, particularly around the thermostat housing and heater hoses. If it is leaking around the thermostat, put in a Felpro PermaDry Plus gasket, fill it up, and forget it. The Rangers have a completely different cooling system (it even flows opposite of the Taurus) that is much less prone to problems. They sometimes leak from the fiber thermostat gasket...the Felpro PermaDry Plus is a silicone gasket in a composite frame that is less prone to leaks. They can also leak from a t-fitting in the heater hose...Napa carries direct fit replacement heater hose assemblies that aren't very expensive. Rangers will usually alert you to a coolant leak by spraying it all over the engine compartment long before it's low enough to overheat though.

 

[19jacobob93]

Bottom rad hose burst on my falcon in the desert. I drove around 40 minutes with ZERO coolant and the temp off the scale. New hose and fill with coolant at the next town and it was good as ever. Not had a single problem 2 years on so I wouldn't worry, but not sure how well other engines would cope

 

[eljefino]

The question is why was it low, it either leaked or burned it on the previous owner's watch.

Your water pump will keep the pressure up inside the engine, when it reaches the top hose the coolant will dribble down the radiator and in your instance not have that much time to cool off before getting sucked through again. But assuming your gauge sender was "underwater" I assume the vital engine parts were, as well.

 

[gfh77665]

Nothing to do except flush, refill properly, and check to make sure everything is tight without leaks, then monitor coolant levels on regular basis.

Don't worry and just drive on. If it "runs fine" like you said, there is a great chance that all is OK.

 

[Smcatub]

So you have your mix wrong right now, and you live in Minnesota? I'd want to do whatever it takes to get it right before it really starts getting cold.

I know you said you don't have time, but I'd make the time to flush it to get the right coolant and right mix in. Get the car up, find the draincock. Open up the rad and drain, then fill with distilled H2O. Run it to mix the water in with the existing coolant

Drain again. Fill again.

After four cycles you should have about 93% of the old out and replaced with H2O (assuming your radiator is half your cooling system's total capacity).

Drain it once more. Find your system's total capacity, and add half as much or a touch more coolant. For example - if you have a 2 gallon total capacity, you'd want to add a gallon of coolant. Then top off with water. Run the car for a few minutes to mix it all together and you're all set.

You might want to go 60/40 coolant/water, depending on how cold it gets in your area. If you Google 'glycol chart' you'll find charts that show the freezing point with various concentrations of coolant.

 

[HerrStig]

I'd pay close attention to the head gaskets as the cause of the coolant loss, and/or being damaged as a result.