When I got the Jeep engine put back together I figured there was a better than even chance I would have to take something apart again so I just filled it up with plain water.

Well Murphy’s law rules and I never did have to drain the coolant.   Now that the car is actually driving and the nights are getting cool it is time to get some antifreeze in there before the block freezes and undoes all my hard work.

Tonight I rolled the Jeep out into the driveway and opened the petcocks.

Again it is just water so no harm in letting it drain out on the driveway.

Usually when I fill a cooling system I figure out how much the system holds and put antifreeze in first then fill with water.  Inevitably I end up with too much antifreeze and not enough water.  So this time I mixed small batches of antifreeze and water in a 60-40 ratio and poured them in.  Ironically it took the entire 1 and 1/3 gallons of antifreeze I had.

Once I filled it up I started the car and ran the the car up to temperature.  I drove up and down the street one more time and everything looks good.   Now a cold snap is not going to mess me up.