2001 Chrysler Sebring Logo
Posted on Apr 30, 2010
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I mixed antifreez when coolant was low only about 2 quarts and after maybe 100 miles iot stared over heating should i empty all the coolant out and put orignal back ?

  • Anonymous May 11, 2010

    This sounds like a cooling system problem, not an antifreeze mix problem, is it losing quite a bit of fluid? If so it should be checked by a qualified tech who knows these cars.

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Joseph Prosser

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  • Master 780 Answers
  • Posted on Apr 30, 2010
 Joseph Prosser
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Generally the ratio of antifreeze to water depends on the severity of the cold that your car is likely to encounter. A ratio of of one part antifreeze to two parts water should suffice for most cases. The antifreeze should be added premixed with the water: just adding neat antifreeze to the engine first and then adding water will result most of the antifreeze settling to the bottom of the engine and taking a very long time to mix. That all said I think your overheating issue is not to do with the antifreeze itself. Are you loosing coolant? Check that the coolant filler cap is on tightly and that its seal is in good condition. Most coolant systems become pressurised when hot. If the cap is not on securely pressure cannot build up and overheating can occur. Also check that no air pockets are trapped in the system. Put the heating on inside the car to full and squeeze the top radiator hose occasionally as the car warms up. Incidentally, this putting on the internal heater to full can be a good emergency step to take if stuck in traffic and the engine starts to boil. If you are not loosing coolant but the car overheats this is a sign that maybe the thermostat is not opening when it should and perhaps ought to be replaced. If your car is very hot/overheated switch it off and check the radiator bottom hose, careful it should be too hot to touch. If it is just mildly warm then this is another bit of evidence that thermostat is faulty. A further check is to remove the thermostat. Fill a clear jug with boiling water from the kettle and lower the thermostat into it. It should pop open but after a few minutes pop closed again even though the water will still be very hot. Most thermostats open in the 84 to 87 degree centigrade range. If your thermostat fails to do anything then it needs to be replaced. If the bottom hose is hot then water is circulating and the thermostat is most likely working. Check that the radiator fan is running. If your car is fitted with an electric fan these are triggered to work by a thermostatic switch. If it fails to come on then either the fan motor is dead or the switch is not working. The switch can be checked easily by testing for electrical continuity when it is hot. If the fan is activated by a thermal clutch and it fails to engage when hot then it is the clutch that has failed.

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  • Master 921 Answers
  • Posted on Apr 30, 2010
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Why was your coolant low? did you inspect engine for any leaks? two quarts is quite a bit low. when you start the car up do you see big white vapor cloud along with water? say no please! good because you probably know what that means. Whenever you lose coolant and you cant explain why.... that's not good. Its always good to see a leak except from a cracked block. A head gasket you wont see any leak from the engine. Check the dip stick or oil filler cap, does it look watery? or like a milkshake? no i hope! Now let engine cool approx three hours.. recheck and top off coolant, replace radiator cap if it looks rusty or corroded, then warm up engine and put your hand on the upper radiator hose, you shouldn't feel any coolant running though the hose in fact you should be able to squeeze it flat. Now when the temp gauge gets to around normal operating temperature the hose should feel hot and when you try and squeeze it you should feel a slight back pressure...this is all good, thermostat is working and water pump is supplying pressure. If the hose is not hot after it warms up, you have a stuck thermostat and will need a new one. a bad thermostat will cause the engine to prematurely boil off coolant and that may be why your car was 2 quarts low.

When you use just water it keeps the boiling point at 212 degrees with a proper mix 50/50 it'll bring boiling point up to approx 240 degrees. did you check also to see if your fan was on? if the fan isn't working you'll overheat a little bit but on a hot summer day in stop and go traffic you'll boil over. did your car boil over? was the reservoir overfollowing with coolant? if it was then maybe your fan is inop or the fan relay isnt working. Whenever you're driving your car and it starts to overheat, turn your heater on full blast, this will take the cooler water out of the heater core system, which is usually cooler, and it will dump it into the engine..it might be enough to get you to a service station and let the car cool down and reservice the radiator and try and find a leak.
Im telling you all this because im trying to save my daughters car right now because she didnt think a low coolant warning light was no big deal. I took radiator cap off and it was half empty, i topped it off , i didnt feel any water going through the upper hose either..pulled out thermostat, it was toasted shut, replaced it, filled up radiator,..no leaks anywhere. You would think that a car with 297000k would have a little leak somewhere..but after driving 10 miles the low coolant light would start to flicker and it lost about half a pint. i checked exhaust and it had a lot of moisture and a little vapor cloud...prefromed a "block check" and it confirmed the blue test dye turned yellow...bad news. blown head gasket. Well two weeks now and a bottle of "Blue Devil" $65 head gasket sealer and so far so good. The first week it still ran a little rough but after you get up to speed the water would get blown off the spark plug and run like brand new. Now im in the second week of periodic checking and so far the levels arent dropping anymore and theres only a slight roughness when you first start it in the mornings but clears up in a couple of minutes. also the tranny fluid was two pints low probably due to overheating also. She said that she hasnt seen the low coolant light come back on so maybe this stuff does work! Im still checking.
i bought the car new 2.8L V-6 GTU installed a 40hp performance chip in it and always performed routine maintenance. I wanted to get at least 300000k out of it..will see. i know i went on a bit here but i just want to emphazise the importance of the cooling systems in cars.
hope this was informative, any feedback would be appreciated..its what keeps us going at Fix Ya!





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Related Questions:

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I have a 2003 olds mobile Alero, it began to over heat riding around the city so I replaced both the thermostat & water pump but the car still over heats. What else could be wrong?

most likely air in the colant system, an air bubble trapped when water pump was replaced. An eazy way to tell if air is in the coolant system squeze the upper radiator hose, if seems empty or can hear coolant swishing around, then there is air in the coolant system and also coolant level not compmetely topped off.

Top off coolant with Antifreeze Concentrate, NOT WATER. water will boil and evaporate, 50/50 antifreeze mix is good but if you dont know how much water has allready been added to the coolant system then straight shots of Antifreeze is recommended when toppong off coolant level.

Remove Air and Top Off Coolant

•While Engine is cool
•Remove radiator cap
•Slowly fill to the rim with Antifreeze, while at the same time squeezing the upper radiator hose to swoosh around coolant, try to get as full as you can.
•Replace Radiator Cap
•Start engine and switch air fan on high
•Remove radiator cap
•Squeez upper radiator hose and add more Antifreeze as Nessesary
•Notice preasure on the coolant hose, while adding antifreeze Concentrate preasure on the hose will stiffin up,
When coolant is full turn off the motor.

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My saturns air conditioner isn't working correctly is the antifreeze mix wrong

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Vehicle overheats after runnig only a few miles.what could cause this?

Low antifreeze level
Coolant should be mixed 50/50
water pump not pumping. (and will also be leaking 90% of the time)
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How much antifreeze does it take

Hi, empty, this truck will hold 11.5 quarts for a 4cyl, or 12.1 qts for a 6 cyl,so either would be about 3 gallons of dexcool 50/50 mix with water. If you still have coolant in the engine, and you are just doing service work, like a water pump, or radiator, or a flush, you would use probably 1/2 of that. Good luck...coop
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What type of coolant should be put into the engine coolant cylinder

Coolant recommendations and cautions:


The recommended mixture is 50/50 ethylene-glycol and low mineral content water. Never use pure antifreeze. Only Mopar Antifreeze Coolant, 5 Year/100,000 Mile Formula (glycol base coolant with corrosion inhibitors called HOAT) is recommended. This coolant offers the best engine cooling without corrosion when mixed with 50% distilled water.


Antifreeze mixture must always be at least 44%, all climates year round. Maximum protection (-90d) is provided with a 68% mixture protection. If the percentage is lower than 44 percent, engine parts may be eroded by cavitation, and cooling system components may be severely damaged by corrosion.


CAUTION: Mopar Antifreeze/Coolant, 5 Year/100,000 Mile Formula (MS-9769) may not be mixed with any other type of antifreeze. Mixing of coolants other than specified (non-HOAT or other HOAT), may result in engine damage that may not be covered under the new vehicle warranty, and decreased corrosion protection.


CAUTION: Do not use coolant additives that are claimed to improve engine cooling.


4.7L coolant capacity:
1999-2000: 13.0 qts. (including 2.3 qts. for resevoir)
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Where is the thermostat sensor

Both the 4.0L and 4.7L engines use 195� thermostats for all model years from 1999-2004. When replacing a thermostat it is very important to install one with the same temperature rating (the only exception might be with certain performance modifications or chips that recommend or require a different temperature thermostat).

4.0L engine - Draining the cooling system WARNING: DO NOT REMOVE THE CYLINDER BLOCK DRAIN PLUGS OR LOOSEN THE RADIATOR DRAINCOCK WITH SYSTEM HOT AND UNDER PRESSURE. SERIOUS BURNS FROM COOLANT CAN OCCUR.

1. DO NOT remove radiator cap first. With engine cold, locate radiator draincock on the right lower side of radiator facing to rear of vehicle.
2. Attach one end of a hose to the draincock. Put the other end into a clean container. Open draincock and drain coolant from radiator. This will empty the coolant reserve/overflow tank. The coolant does not have to be removed from the tank unless the system is being refilled with a fresh mixture. When tank is empty, remove radiator cap and continue draining cooling system. To drain the engine block of coolant, remove the cylinder block drain plug, located on the side of cylinder block below the exhaust manifold.

4.0L engine - refilling the cooling system Coolant recommendations and cautions: The recommended mixture is 50/50 ethylene-glycol and low mineral content water. Never use pure antifreeze. Only Mopar Antifreeze Coolant, 5 Year/100,000 Mile Formula (glycol base coolant with corrosion inhibitors called HOAT) is recommended. This coolant offers the best engine cooling without corrosion when mixed with 50% distilled water. Antifreeze mixture must always be at least 44%, all climates year round. Maximum protection (-90d) is provided with a 68% mixture protection. If the percentage is lower than 44 percent, engine parts may be eroded by cavitation, and cooling system components may be severely damaged by corrosion. CAUTION: Mopar Antifreeze/Coolant, 5 Year/100,000 Mile Formula (MS-9769) may not be mixed with any other type of antifreeze. Mixing of coolants other than specified (non-HOAT or other HOAT), may result in engine damage that may not be covered under the new vehicle warranty, and decreased corrosion protection.

CAUTION: Do not use coolant additives that are claimed to improve engine cooling. 4.0L coolant capacity: 1999-2000: 13.0 qts. (including 2.3 qts. for resevoir) 2001-2004: 15.0 qts. (including 1 qt. for resevoir)

1. Tighten the radiator draincock and the cylinder block drain plug(s) (if removed).
2. Fill system using a 50/50 mixture of ethyleneglycol antifreeze and low mineral content water. Fill radiator to top and install radiator cap. Add sufficient coolant to the reserve/overflow tank to raise level to FULL mark.
3. With heater control unit in the HEAT position, operate engine with radiator cap in place.
4. After engine has reached normal operating temperature, shut engine off and allow it to cool. When engine is cooling down, coolant will be drawn into the radiator from the reserve/overflow tank.
5. Add coolant to reserve/overflow tank as necessary. Only add coolant to the reserve/overflow tank when the engine is cold. Coolant level in a warm engine will be higher due to thermal expansion. To purge the cooling system of all air, this heat up/cool down cycle (adding coolant to cold engine) must be performed three times. Add necessary coolant to raise tank level to the FULL mark after each cool down period.

For more details, you can refer to the Jeep WJ Service Manual Section-07-Cooling-System-Ewj7

Hope helped.
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Low Coolant Light

Why is it low? Leaking? The dumbest thing they sell is a 50/50 mix of antifreeze. You are getting 50% water and 50% coolant. Just buy a 100% antifreeze jug add it first and top it off with water. If the water is not low you may hve a bad coolant level sensor. It snaps into the radiator tank and is easy to replace when cold.
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