degas bottle empty?

[Cyclist 06]

what does this mean? I was just checking things out under the hood and noticed the overflow res. for the coolant was bone dry. There's been nothing leaking on the driveway and she is not running hot. what do I buy to refill and should I have Ford look at the truck? Should I not drive the truck?

Scott

[WEWILLE]

Fill it up and take it in, is there any white smoke, if it's not leaking on the ground or anywhere else it sounds like head gaskets.

[shu873]

fill it back up to 1" below the minimum line and keep a good eye on it. Keep track of how much it looses if any. If you have to take it to the dealer put your stock programming back in soon and d/c your batteries for a half hour or so. Make sure to put some miles on it after that as well before you go in. Hopefully you don't have any problems, but loosing coolant is a bad sign I think. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Cyclist 06]

Thanks for the responses, Isn't the coolant something specific and can I get it at Discount Auto Parts or Pep Boys? What exactly should I buy to refill.
Oh, no white smoke and the truck drives as it always has.

edit: if I drive it to the auto parts store, do I have to let it cool down before refilling or can I refill it with no problems?

Thanks again
Scott

[Logan]

As long as you get the right color, you should be ok. I would just fill it like Shu said, and watch it.

[Treeman587]

I have no white smoke, and just had to add a gallon to it to fill up. You can see spots around the degas cap where it has been puking it out. I think mine is just venting out of the bottle. If there was a head gasket issue I think I would see some evidence.

[Cyclist 06]

regular anti-freeze is green so what would the right color be? I thought I've seen on here that the coolant is gold, or yellow? Is there not a specific name for the coolant? Kinda like the tranny fluid is specific to our trucks. Also, pulled the codes and there were none.

Scott

[shu873]

Its gold. You can get it just about anywhere. If you go to your local auto parts store they should be able to hook you up. If you buy a gallon at walmart just read the description on the bottle close. You'll be fine.

[Cyclist 06]

Does my truck need to be running when I refill the bottle? I did wait for it to cool down, didn't want to take any chances.

thanks again for the help
Scott

[shu873]

Originally Posted by Cyclist 06

Does my truck need to be running when I refill the bottle? I did wait for it to cool down, didn't want to take any chances.

thanks again for the help
Scott

I don't know the answer to that one, but if you've filled it already, take it out for a good drive and get it up to temp. After it cools again if has sucked down the degas bottle some add some more again. Might have to repeat as necessary depending on how far down it was in the first place... Good luck and let us know what happens.