Hey everyone. For my 2000 Toyota Camry V6, my coolant level is low, and I need to add more antifreeze/coolant to my car.
How much water should I add to make it a 50/50?
I don’t want to get the prediluted mix.
Or do I need to add water?
Thanks.
If you started with a 50/50 mix then you will dilute the anti-freeze in your cooling system by adding water. You need to add a 50/50 mix of anti-freeze and water or the prediluted mix to keep the cooling system at 50/50.
Why don’t you want to add the premixed 50/50 solution?
You don’t have to buy the premixed 50/50 solution to add a premixed 50/50 solution. Just make a quart of 50/50 premix, add it to the cooling system, and repeat until the cooling system is full.
Does it matter then?
I thought there was a difference between the prediluted mix and the regular stuff.
But how much water should I add to make it a 50/50 mix?
The only difference is that one is pre-diluted with distilled water, and the other you mix yourself. If you do it right, you use distilled water. If you will be changing the coolant every two years, you can probably get away with tap water.
Add equal parts of water and coolant. If you find this difficult, mix them in a container before you add them to the car’s cooling system.
A quart is four cups. To make a quart of premix, add two cups of water and two cups of coolant.
If I were to mix it myself, how much water should I add to the antifreeze/coolant?
Or would it be better to buy the prediluted mix?
Or does it matter?
Just buy the prediluted mix. Save yourself the trouble.
Wow. Just…wow.
Good job Whitey. I could hear the deep breaths from here!
Reminds me of the guy who couldn’t call 911 because he didn’t have an eleven on his phone.
No joke. I’ve heard that the reason why it’s always described as 9-1-1 rather than “nine-eleven” is to avoid that sort of thing. Don’t discount how much stress can distort thinking.
find empty gallon jug. Buy gallon of distilled water at supermarket. Fill empty jug half full with antifreeze. Fill both the (former) empty jug AND the original coolant jug with distilled water. You can’t screw up the ratio.
You now have two gallons of premixed coolant.
2nd method.
Buy gallon of distilled water. Dump or drink half of it. Fill water jug with antifreeze.
You now have one gallon of premix and 1/2 gallon of concentrate.
3rd method
forget the distilled water. Take a measuring cup. Fill it with AF …dump that in your coolant recovery tank. Now fill the measuring cup with water from the tap. The harder the water is, the better. Dump this into the coolant recovery tank too. Repeat until recovery tank is at proper level.
You now have the proper ratio (50:50) in the coolant recovery tank and 100% concentrate in the antifreeze bottle.
You also need to determine why the coolant level is low. Cars generally don’t lose coolant unless there is a leak in the system.
Off the top of my head, possible causes are a bad radiator cap, leaking hoses, a crack in the radiator side tank or cooling fins, a leaking intake or manifold gasket, and a leaking heater core. I suggest taking the Camry to an independent mechanic and have it checked out.
Ed B.
This is a joke, right?
I hope so.
I knew the education system was not good, but I didn’t know it was this bad.
OK DRay01,
IF you have the concentrate and you pour in a ‘glug glug’ of antifeeze…then you pour in an equivilant ‘glug glug’ of water.
– ANY – amount of antifreeze ( like your Burger King coke cup )…and the SAME amount of water.
same for same and PRESTO ! 50/50.
But this is why they sell the premix. For topping off by those who don’t have a clue.
And for those who may not have an immediate source of water and those who may not want to store the remainder of concentrate.
The concentrate will cost less per quantity in the long run, but many times the convenience is worth the extra.
Just follow these easy steps…
First, buy a gallon of distilled water and a gallon of coolant and an empty gallon container.
Pour the gallon of distilled water into the empty container. This will leave you with another empty container, just in case you need one.
Take the gallon of coolant and empty it into the extra empty container.
Shake the freshly poured coolant to make it coagulate.
(here’s where it gets tricky)
Pour half of the distilled water from its container into the empty container. You will now have two half filled containers of distilled water.
Take the full container of coolant and pour enough into both of the half full containers of distilled water to make them both full.
You will then have two full 50/50 gallon containers with the proper ratio of water to coolant.
If you pour half of one of the 50/50 mixes into the extra empty gallon container you will have three containers of 50/50 mix, however two of them will be 50/50 water/coolant and 50% O2, but it will still work in your radiator and at least you won’t have a wasted empty gallon container (unless you pour all of one of them into the radiator).
I hope this helps.
First, get a 9 ounce glass and a 4 ounce glass. Fill the 9 ounce glass, then pour it into the 4 ounce glass. Discard the remainder from the 9 ounce glass. Pour the contents of the 4 ounce glass into the 9 ounce glass, refill the 4 ounce glass and pour its contents into the 9 ounce glass. Discard the contents of the 4 ounce glass. Repeat until you have a 50-50 mixture.
Actually, everyone here has been pulling your leg. There is no way to make a 50-50 mixture of water and antifreeze.
“Actually, everyone here has been pulling your leg. There is no way to make a 50-50 mixture of water and antifreeze.”
That’s because 9 ounce glasses are hard to find and they don’t always work.