engine coolant reservoir empty?

[PTC06Peet]

this reservoir doesnt seem to have anything in it...
engine temp hasnt been over half, no burn smells or any lights.

the cap says "special" coolant ...
is there anything i can do ?

[CREWZIN]

The reservoir is hard to see and the coolant (red) isn't dark so make sure you are low before putting more in. Chrysler uses a red coolant and wants you to use the same kind when refilling.

[PTC06Peet]

Alright, got a long 20inch strip of thick paper and shoved it in the coolant reservoir,
this is what came out





it probably scraped on the bottom of the container
there is no liquid in there...

that gunk is a dark green-gray gunk ... buggers

i also bought a jug of Prestone dex-cool 50-50 from Autozone (i asked for "the orange one" as the Chrysler mechanic told me over the phone)

is it ok to pour it in the reservoir, or would it push the crud down some pipes?

[CREWZIN]

By your screen name, i take it you have a 2006 PT? Did you buy it used? If so, you don't know the cars history, right? You shouldn't have "gunk" in a 2 year old car. What's the water/coolant look like when you take the radiator cap off. Don't take it off if it's hot please.

[PTC06Peet]

Hi Crewzin,
yup 2006, bought it from a used car dealer, all i know so far is it was an Enterprise car.
engine is still hot now, i'll check the radiator in about 30 minutes.

[PTC06Peet]

alright, radiator cap off,


i see a "clean" (i dont see any dirt or stuff in it)
its an opaque dark orange liquid when i look at in the radiator hole.
spread on white paper it looks clear orange

[CYCLONE_06]

I had a buddy of mine suck all the orange crap out, and switched mine over to green. I asked an expert what the difference was, and he said just the color. He said prestone has the same silicates and such in it to prevent rusting.

I also had some of that brown stuff around the top of the resevoir, I just took a hose and over flowed it until it was completely clean.

~CYCLONE_06

[CREWZIN]

Sounds like it's OK to just add what you bought to the reservoir. If you can, like cyclone just said, get as much of the "gunk" out as you can.

[PTC06Peet]

great, thanks Crewzin, Cyclone_06 !

[quicksilverdon]

You've gotten good advice.
I just want to add a bit more. If you fill the overflow tank when engine is warm, go to the top line in the tank. If the engine is cold when you fill, go to the bottom line.
Check on it after you've driven a while - since tank was empty, you MAY have air in you system and it may "drink" some coolant.
That the coolant was to the top of the radiator is good.
There is no harm if you put too much coolant in the overflow tank - it'll possibly overflow to the ground when engine gets hot, that's all.