spilled radiator fluid, help!!!

[surfingguy101]

i was putting in an aftermarket crank pulley, and i wanted to remove the hose coming out from the top of the radiator, bad idea, a bunch of bluish fluid came pouring out, i quickly put it back on but id say 1/2 a quart of fluid was lost - what should i do for this, is it a big deal?
please help

[volkl23]

I'm not sure I understand your dilemma? Replace fluid lost? Wipe off excess so you don't burn off the fluid?

[surfingguy101]

ya im an idiot i just found where the coolant goes, just need to know what kind of fluid to get, than again thats in the manual probly

[SD_GR]

If your rad fluid is blue, I've no idea where to get more.

If your fluid is green like most of us, you can either follow the manual's advice or simly top off with distilled water -- you will lower the % of antifreeze in your system but if you didn't lose a significant amount of fluid, the change in % will be negligible.

Run a search for how to burp the system, there are several posts. If you have air pockets in the system you will overheat. It takes quite a while to do this fully, so plan on spending some time on it.

Also, if you're unfamiliar with the motor bay you might look at the pdf files of the maintenance manual floating around - you will need torque figures for what you're installing anyway (I leave the reasoning behind changing the pulley out to you, though personally I'd not bother with such a thing, as more performance can be had with other mods anyway - unless of course your existing pulley has seized and needs replacement. In that case, I'd recommend a stock pulley).

[Airborne Guy]

blue should be washer fluid

[Quack]

if it was indeed your coolant, replace is and you will probably have to burb you system, otherwise your temp will read high.
since you are in SoCal, you could replace it with water since you won't see the cold temps.

[surfingguy101]

its def the "bluish greenish" antifreeze/water mix" i can add more, but is it really necessary to "blurb it"

[SD_GR]

Originally posted by surfingguy101
its def the "bluish greenish" antifreeze/water mix" i can add more, but is it really necessary to "blurb it"

You mean "burp" it?

If you pulled the top hose off and replaced it, you may now end up with air bubbles in the system. You'll have to do a rudimentary "burping" anyway simply to get the correct-ish level in the system (using the usual method of topping up, running the motor uncapped until you see circulation, and adding more etc.). You could always just go for it and top up the overflow then run the motor and wait, but if it overheats you'll know why.