Vehicle Care 9-19
What to Use
{
WARNING
Adding only plain water to
the cooling system can be
dangerous. Plain water, or some
other liquid such as alcohol, can
boil before the proper coolant
mixture will. The vehicle's coolant
warning system is set for the
proper coolant mixture. With plain
water or the wrong mixture, the
engine could get too hot but you
would not get the overheat
warning. The engine could catch
fire and you or others could be
burned. Use a 50/50 mixture of
clean, drinkable water and
DEX-COOL
®
coolant.
Use a 50/50 mixture of clean,
drinkable water and DEX-COOL
®
coolant. If using this mixture,
nothing else needs to be added.
This mixture:
.
Gives freezing protection down
to −37°C (−34°F), outside
temperature.
.
Gives boiling protection up to
129°C (265°F), engine
temperature.
.
Protects against rust and
corrosion.
.
Will not damage aluminum parts.
.
Helps keep the proper engine
temperature.
Notice: If an improper coolant
mixture is used, the engine could
overheat and be badly damaged.
The repair cost would not be
covered by the vehicle warranty.
Too much water in the mixture
can freeze and crack the engine,
radiator, heater core, and other
parts.
Checking Coolant
The vehicle must be on a level
surface when checking the coolant
level.
The engine coolant reservoir is
located in the engine compartment
on the driver side of the vehicle.
See Engine Compartment Overview
on page 9‑6
.
Check to see if coolant is visible in
the surge tank. If the coolant inside
the surge tank is boiling, do not do
anything else until it cools down.
If coolant is visible but the coolant
level is not at or above the FULL
COLD mark, add a 50/50 mixture
of clean, drinkable water and
DEX-COOL
®
coolant at the coolant
surge tank, but be sure the cooling
system is cool before this is done.
See Engine Coolant
on page 9‑18
for more information.