24 2 Ch ecking and filling
scalding from hot coolant by following
these steps .
- Turn off the eng ine and a llow it to cool
down.
- Protect your face, hands and arms from escaping flu id and steam by cover ing
the cap with a large, thick rag .
- Turn the cap slowly and very carefully
i n a counter-clockwise direction while
apply ing l ight, downwa rd press ure on
the top of the cap .
- To avo id being burned, do not spi ll an
tifreeze or coolant on the exhaust sys
tem or hot engine parts . Under certain
conditions, the ethylene glyco l in en
gine coolant can catch f ire .
- Antifreeze is poisonous . Always store an
tifreeze in its or iginal container and we ll
out of the reach of children.
- If you drain the coolant, it must be
caught and safely stored in a proper con
tainer clear ly marked "poison".
@ Note
- Coolant po llutes the env ironment and
could cause an engine fire . Excess coo l
ant will be forced out through the pres
sure re lief valve in the cap when the en
gine becomes hot.
- If, in an emergency, only water can be
added, the correct ratio between water
and antifreeze
c::> page 240 must be re
stored as soon as possible .
@ For the sake of the environment
Drained coolant should not be re used. Al
ways dispose of used coolant while observ
ing all environmental regulat ions .
Radiator fan
The radiator fan switches on automatically by
itself
T he radiator fan is driven by the engine via the
V-be lt . The viscous clutch regulates the speed
of the fan accord ing to the temperature of the
coolant. An a
uxiliary electric radiator fan* switches on
and off depend ing on coolant temperature
and other vehicle operat ing condit ions .
After yo u sw itch the engine off, the aux iliary
f an can continue running for up to 10 minutes
- eve n wit h the ignit ion off. It can even switc h
on again later by itself
c::> &. , if
- t he tempe rature of the engine coo lant rises
due to the heat build -up from the engine in
the engine compartment, or
- the engine compa rtment heats up because
the vehicle is parked in i ntense sunlight.
_& WARNING
- To reduce the risk of personal injury nev
er touch the radiator fan.
- The auxiliary electric fan is temperat ure
controlled and can sw itch on suddenly
even when the engine is not running.
- The a uxiliary radiator fan sw itches on au
tomatically when the engine coo lant
reaches a certai n temperature and will
continue to run until the coolant temper
ature drops .
Brake fluid
Checking brake fluid level
The brake fluid level can be checked with a
quick glance.
F ig . 201 E ngin e compart men t: cover on the brake fluid
r eservo ir
Before you check a nyth ing in the engine com
partment,
always read and hee d all WARN
INGS c::> .&. in Working in the engine compart-
ment on page 232. .,..
