I have been worried about my Daewoo since it has been going through alot of 50/50 diluted coolant. I was wondering if anyone knew if this was normal or if I should be buying a specific kind of coolant? Also when i checked it this morning, it seems to have a dirty water look to what is left in my reservoir. Do i drain this before putting more in? And it seems to take a toll on how good my heater works. Any advice on these varied questions will be helpful. Thanks for your time!
you should NOT be having to replace the coolant Kalie. Unfortunately it is going somewhere. that is supposed to be a sealed system. Are you noticing any puddles or drips under your car? They should be green and feel a little slippery when you rub your fingers together. If so, it is leaking from a hose or fitting (hopefully) and is not that big of a deal. Unfortunately, if you have not noticed any of that, there is only one other place for it it to go, and it isn't good. Have you noticed a sweet smell when your motor is hot? if so, that's antifreeze. It has a unique smell when burned. that means internal problems. I don't want to give you my cheap, temporary fix that you might do and regret, so i will wait for the real mechanics to tell you what to do. You should look in your manual to see what type of antifreeze you should be using. there are several types and you want to use the right one. The reason your heater is occasionally not working, in my opinion, is because at times your system has too much air in it to circulate the water through the heater core, or is airbound. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you aren't seeing drips of antifreeze when you park your car, you have a problem in the motor. One of these guys will tell you how to check and what to do. I don't know how big of a job it is to take that thing apart and replace a head gasket. By the way, welcome to the board! I iwsh it were under better circumstances than you having a problem.
