Hi, just a small question. You know the coolant bottle that sits behind the intercooler with "NEVER OPEN" written on it, well do they mean never-ever or just when it's hot? Last time I topped up the coolant from all three directions:

1/ resevoir bottle in the front corner near the bottle, this one has a dip stick.

2/ the resevoir bottle attached to the intercooler

3/ the main entrtance under the radiator cap

I had caps removed from both '2' and '3' (above) at the same time. As soon as I took off the cap for '2' the water drained from '3'. Then I proceeded to top up both and '1' as well ('1' was about half full when I had finished). I took the car for a 100 mile drive and parked it. Then there was a whole lot of coolant under it, I am guessing it is from my car. Now I checked the coolant and '2' is empty again! So what should I do, top both '2' and '3' up or just top up '2'?

I am not a complete dumbass and I usually know what each part of the car is, from injectors to idle stepper motor but I have never seen a car with an extra resevoir bottle. What's that all about?

By the way, I know these cars are supposed to use a bit of oil. Similarly, is there any acceptable reason for them to use any water?

Would appreciate knowing the answers, this has been something that has been bothering me for quite some time.

 

If all is well it shouldn't use water. You shouldn't have to fill up #1 this is your resivoir (over flow) if it is full then when coolant expands in the system it will push the excess out of the resivoir. Bottle #2 is you Air Seperation Tank (AST) and is prmarily there to help evacuate any air that may have gotten into the system. I generaly top this one off with the cap still in place on #3 (the one next to the air pump). After #2 is topped of I reinstall the cap on the AST (mounted behind the intercooler) #2. I then remove the cap from #3 (next to the air pump) system fill or themostat body what ever you want to call it. I top that one off and reinstall that cap, if there's no air in the system this is where you should find the level the next time you check the system. (Cold check only) system may or may not have alittle pressue on it (even cold) depends on how well your system is sealed. Hope this hepls. Jack

 

That was bloody helpful. Damn, looks like I might have spent $120 on a new coolant overflow tank for nothing! Thought it was leaking, but maybe it just overflowed.

 

CantGoStraight, a big thanks for answering my post. I will fill them just like you said in future.