A car can lose a bit of coolant without a leak such as through evaporation or vapor from the coolant reservoir.
Although losing a lot more coolant than a few ounces a year is a sign that you likely have other issues that are causing the coolant leak even without an obvious coolant leak.
If you're not seeing a coolant leak and are still losing coolant, it can be a sign of a faulty intake manifold gasket, blown head gasket, bad water pump, coolant being burnt in the exhaust due to a bad head gasket, or even a small leak from your heater core which is under the dash on the passenger side of the vehicle.
Even your tanks on the radiator ends can leak and may only leak under pressure when the engine is hot.
The coolant level in a coolant reservoir tank may drop a bit as often as once or twice a year.
The coolant level should not drop drop significantly, but a small loss of a couple ounces a year can be normal, but losing more than a few ounces of coolant a year can indicate a leaky radiator cap, leaky hose or bad or leaky water pump or due to slight evaporation or even a more serious issue such as a cracked or bad head gasket.
It's best to check your coolant level at least twice a year or more often, such as when you check your oil or before setting out on a long road trip to look for any signs of possible coolant leaks.
Engine coolant does not normally need to be topped up at all if your engine cooling system is not leaking and is working properly.
Having to top up coolant often indicates a coolant leak somewhere in the cooling system that needs to be checked out.
Although it's good to check the coolant level as often as every few weeks to ensure you don't have coolant leaks and so you can catch and fix any coolant leaks before they get worse.
Coolant should not normally need to be topped up, unless you have a leak, although it's still a good idea to check the coolant level once every few weeks or even once a month to ensure you have no leaks.
If you constantly need to top up the coolant then you likely have a leak somewhere and it should be fixed.
Normally a cooling system in a vehicle requires no coolant top offs as coolant is not consumed like gasoline is and the cooling system is a pressurized system and so the coolant should stay in the system and does not normally evaporate.
The result that may be of too little coolant are engine overheating, engine damage, water pump damage, blown head gasket, warped or cracked engine parts and even a seized engine that would require replacement.
If your car has too little coolant the coolant won't circulate through the engine and cooling system good enough so that it cools the engine and as a result, engine damage and engine overheating can occur.
It is OK to drive with low coolant but only for a short distance and as long as the coolant level is not way too low and the engine is not overheating.
Driving too far without the proper amount of coolant can cause the cars engine to overheat and lead to bad head gasket and even damage to the engine.
Coolant should be topped off and added as soon as possible to prevent overheating and damage to the engine.
You cannot drive without coolant as the coolant is required to keep the engine cool and without coolant the cars engine will overheat and can even seize up and even cause head gasket failure which can be very costly to repair.
If you have no coolant and need to drive, you should at least put water into the cooling system and top it off as needed and keep an eye on the temperature gauge so the engine does not over heat.
Water is okay to use in an engine as temporary coolant in an emergency but it should be replaced as soon as possible with actual engine coolant once you get the coolant leaks fixed.
If your car needs coolant or antifreeze your car will let you know by a dashboard warning light or an overheating temperature gauge or even steam that comes from the engine.
Also seeing any visible coolant leaks under the car or smelling a sweet, syrupy smell or by looking at the coolant reservoir or if your vehicle has a radiator cap you can check to see if the coolant level is low.
If the coolant or antifreeze level is low you should add some antifreeze/coolant mixture to the reservoir or radiator.
Coolant and antifreeze are basically the same but just coolant will cool the engine and antifreeze coolant is a combination of coolant and antifreeze that cools the engine and prevents freezing.
You can drive right after putting coolant in, but before driving after putting coolant in you first should let your car idle after adding coolant to allow the coolant to circulate through the cooling system and distribute evenly as well as purge any trapped air from the system, which prevents overheating and potential engine damage.
Monitor your engines temperature gauge and ensure that the engine reaches it's normal operating temperature but doesn't overheat and continue to check and top off the coolant level in the reservoir as is needed.
Coolant in a car should last around 5 to 7 years before you need to change it out.
The coolant normally should remain in the cars cooling system and not need refilling, but after around 5 to 7 years it can be a good idea to replace the coolant and do a coolant system flush to keep the cooling system working properly.
Coolant does not normally need to be refilled as it's a pressurized system and should hold the coolant as it circulates through the engine and radiator.
Although sometimes coolant may leak out through hoses, bad water pump and even in some cases a bad head gasket.
If it's a bad head gasket then the head gasket would need replaced instead of just adding coolant.
If you need to frequently add coolant to your vehicle then you likely have a leak somewhere as coolant does not evaporate.
The amount of coolant that should be in the reservoir is between the "low" or minimum and "full" or maximum marks that are on the side of the coolant reservoir.
Although this is only when the engine is completely cold.
Coolant also expands when the engine heats up, so the level of coolant in the coolant reservoir when the engine is hot will be closer to the full mark.
If the coolant reservoir is empty you can just add coolant, but also allow the engine to run and check for any coolant leaks.
Coolant should not normally need refilled unless you have a leak such as a bad water bump, bad radiator hose, heater hose, or even a bad headgasket.
When water pumps go bad they leak out the weep hole and it's a sign you need a new water pump.
But not all coolant leaks are from the water pump and so if you're losing coolant you should look around the vehicle for leaks and fix the coolant leak as soon as possible.
It's OK to mix coolants as long as the coolants are the same coolants and compatible with each other.
Different brands of coolants can be mixed, but the coolants need to be the same to avoid any problems such as gelling, clogging, corrosion, overheating etc.
You can add new coolant to old coolant as long as the coolants are compatible and the same.
If you just need to top off coolant it's okay to add some new coolant in with the old coolant as long as the old coolant is still good and not contaminated.
Make sure you use the correct coolant as mixing different types of coolants could cause issues with the cooling system and even lead to corrosion and clogging or even gelling.
It's best to drain out the old coolant and put in fresh new coolant, but if the coolant level is down just a little bit then adding a bit of new coolant to the old coolant is not usually a problem.