Our car repair Newbury team have put together this helpful blog to instruct people on how to put water in their cars radiator

Checking that your car has enough water in its radiator to keep the engine cool is essential to prevent the dashboard temperature gauge steadily rising into the red, and risking mechanical damage or engine failure.

The first action you need to take is getting the mixture right- Just adding water to your cars radiator is wrong as water freezes at 0°C and expands into ice crystals. Since freezing temperatures are fairly common in the UK, your car’s radiator needs more than just water to function effectively in cold conditions. The missing ingredient is antifreeze, and the ratio of water to antifreeze should be roughly equal for best performance. Water can also boil and become steam due to the high pressures within car engines – mixing in antifreeze raises the boiling point enough to keep this from happening.  Fill your radiator with a mixture of 60 percent coolant and 40 percent water.

The second action to follow is finding the radiator reservoir- firstly open the bonnet and you should see that the coolant reservoir cap is on top of a transparent plastic container with MIN and MAX markings down the side, with the existing liquid levels visible inside. Unscrew the cap and set it aside.

Thirdly, you need to pour in equal amounts of water and antifreeze using a funnel to avoid spillages. You can pour both liquids in, in any order as when the engine starts they will combine together. When filling your car up you should always use distilled water as tap water contains minerals or suspended particles that can damage engine components and clog up the radiator pipes over time. Ensure the liquid level is closer to the MAX mark on the reservoir than the MIN, and then firmly place the radiator cap back on.

Finally, start the engine and leave it to warm up for 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on the temperature gauge as it should settle midway up the dial, letting you know that radiator levels are sufficient to cool the car’s engine.

If you want to found out more information then feel free to give the car repair Newbury team a call on 01635 55 02 02 or visit their website listed below;

Car repair Newbury