My 2011 sri v radiator light came on and said to idle car until cooled down. Does it simply need water or coolant?

Hi Joe. For your information you never but never fill a radiator when the engine is hot and engine running. Must first have a cool engine open the radiator and if is only topping up coolant be first sure that the water is clean and fresh ( drain the old coolant first ) and after leaving a space for the coolant top up and always not overfill . Then you start the engine and let it run in idle with radiator cap off, turn also the heater on to hot air for helping the coolant to circulate. When you see that the temperature rise close the radiator and continue with engine on idle until the fan starts. Leave the car running till the fan cut out. Switch engine off,let it cool down - for dropping the pressure - and after you do open the radiator to check for any need for topping up coolant. As soon as you have completed just close the radiator.

Raise the car front end as high as possible with a floor jack, fill the coolant tank to the top, run the engine until it reaches just short of overheating, shut it down and run water over the radiator, this will burp the air out. Repeat as needed. Don't let the coolant recovery tank run dry during procedure.

replace thermostat.then bleed coolant system, this is how you do it.fill the cooling coolant system with 50 / 50 dexcool and water to raise boiling point,straight water will evaporate boil away cause engine to overheat catch fire thats why you need 50 / 50 mixture antifreeze and water.to bleed coolant system first fill coolant system until coolant stay at the full cold mark on the the coolant overflow jug,then you start engine allow it to idle,place the heater and ac control in any ac setting except max and the temperature control to the highest setting,run engine until lower hose to water pump is hot. with the engine hot run the engine speed up to 3000 rpm and allow it return to idle, repeat this 5 times. slowly open the bleed valve on the thermostat housing or look for bleed valve at the water pump heater hose.open bleed valve for 15 seconds to expel any trapped air.then top off the coolant as necessary,and when top radiator hose hot thermostat open up.keep adding cooling to overflow until coolant level stop at full cold mark dont over fill coolant.if engine seem like overheating while looking at cooling gauge turn off engine wait a while until cool off add more coolant until coolant level stay stable and dont drop any.when open radiator overflow cap use large rag over the radiator cap to keep from getting scald open radiator cap a little at a time but dont open radiator cap until engine cool down first.replace the radiator overflow cap, thermostat,and engine coolant temperature sensor and check the cooling fans fuses and relays see what happens.

you need to replace thermostat and radiator cap.look under hood around engine compartment.look for a radiator cap near radiator,add 50/50 antifreeze and water to coolant system to bring up boiling point.pure water will cause engine run hotter because water evaporate away,remove radiator pour coolant in the radiator until coolant stop dropping in the radiator now some vechicle pour coolant in the coolant overflow jug,pour coolant until coolant level stop dropping and the coolant level stay at cold full mark.start engie let idle few minutes, watch coolant level in radiator if coolant start dropping add more coolant, when coolant level stop dropping put radiator cap back on let engine idle until both top radaitor hose and bottom coolant hose get warm turn off engine wait until it get cool then take a large rag slightly open radiator just a litle at a time to keep from getting scaled.once radiator remove add more coolant if low,put radiator cap back on start the engine let it idle watch the temp gauge if temperature gauge going hot zone stop engine wait until cool then add more coolant,keep doing this until engine stop overheating going into hot zone and coolant level stop dropping,make the coolant overflow jug coolant level stay at full cold mark, dont let jug run empty if so air will get in the coolant system causing engine to overheat.

hi u need to check over cooling system ie make sure theres no coolant leaks fans are working make sure coolant is flowing to do this have to remove radiator cap but wait till mtr has cooled down & theirs no pressure in the system other wise u can get badly burnt top up radiator with water have mtr idling with cap off see if water flows when motor reaches runing temp if it dosnt possible jamed thermostat or water pump failling or blocked radiator and if their excessive air bubbles or pressure starts blowing water out may have blown head gaskets it may pay to have it check out rember if u try it your self make sure motor is cool down before removing radiator cap good luck

REPLACE THE THERMOSTAT AND RADIATOR PRESSURE CAP.IF COOLANT LOW, ADD MORE COOLANT THROUGH COOLANT OVERFLOW UNTIL COOLANT LEVEL IN THE COOLANT OVERFLOW STAY AT FULL COLD MARK.REASON POUR COOLANT THROUGH COOLANT OVERFLOW MOST GM CARS DONT HAVE RADIATOR CAP.WHEN YOU GET COOLANT LEVEL OKAY, CRANK CAR LET IT IDLE UNTIL ENGINE GET HOT BUILD UP PRESSURE THEN TURN OFF CAR.CHECK FOR COOLANTS LEAKS AT THE RADIATOR HOSES,CHECK FOR LEAKS AT THE RADIATOR, CHECK FOR LEAKS AT WATER PUMP WEEP HOLE IF YOU SEE COOLANT LEAKING FROM WEEP HOLE REPLACE WATER PUMP. IF CAR OVERHEATING WHILE IDLING YOUR COOLING FANS NOT WORKING CHECK COOLING FANS FUSE AND RELAYS.IF FUSE AND RELAYS OKAY THE ENGINECOOLANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR BAD.

Sounds like a bad water pump or radiator. Make sure the radiator fins arent clogged or inside of radiator, water pump not circulating the coolant properly will also cause overheating, old coolant will not properly dissipate heat efficiently and may need flushed. Also make sure the coolant has a 50% mix of water as the water does most of the cooling not the antifreeze. Hope this gives you some good places to start.

YOU NEED BLEED COOLANT SYSTEM.CHECK COOLANT LEVEL IN RADIATOR.ADD MORE DEXCOOL UNTIL COOLANT LEVEL IS CLOSE TO RADIATOR SPOUT.CRANK ENGINE LET IDLE UNTIL TOP RADIATOR HOSE GET HOT.WATCH TEMPERATURE GAUGE.IF TEMPERATURE GAUGE START RISING TO HOT ZONE.TURN OFF ENGINE.LET COOL DOWN.USE LARGE RAG SLOWLY OPEN RADIATOR CAP A LITTLE AT A TIME UNTIL ALL PRESSURE RELIEVED.REMOVE RADIATOR CAP.ADD MORE COOLANT.CRANK CAR AGAIN LET IDLE UNTIL TOP RADIATOR GET HOT.KEEP EYE ON TEMP.GAUGE ALSO.WHEN TEMP.GAUGE STOP CLIMBING.YOUR COOLANT SYSTEM BLED.WHEN DONE LET CAR SET A WHILE CHECK COOLANT LEVEL.ALSO FIRST THING IN THE MORNING CHECK COOLANT LEVEL AGAIN.AND BESURE ADD COOLANT IN THE OVERFLOW JUG TO THE COLD MARK.DONT OVER FILL THE COOLANT RESERVOIR JUG.WORK SAFELY DONT GET SCALDED.

Does your car have a cap or a sealed unit? You don't want a sealed unit. You want to be able to check your water.Push down and Twist the cap off when cold, not hot, fill it up with coolant, 50/50 mix, and fill up the expansion tank. It says coolant on it. The car will balance itself out. Check the water in your battery while you are at it. It dries out too. Then check the brake fluid, power steering fluid, and oil. That should keep you busy next Saturday. Hope this helps.

Hello ,this is what i do for this vehicle .First take off one of the heater hoses going to the top of the water pump.Next make sure the radiator cap is ON .Then take a funnel ,stick it in the waterpump tube .Then poor the antifreeze in slowly until antifreeze comes out of the hose that was taken off .this will put antifreeze into the engine and radiator.:)