# Engine death: how was I supposed to prevent this without indicators?!?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engine-death-how-was-i-supposed-to-prevent-this-without-indicators/1008707>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 13, 2024, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engine-death-how-was-i-supposed-to-prevent-this-without-indicators/1008707 "2024-10-13T04:24:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 32

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engine-death-how-was-i-supposed-to-prevent-this-without-indicators/1008707/32 "2024-10-14T21:29:54Z")

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> [@Stoid](#):
>
> Trying not to slit my own throat We discussed how I was supposed to know this. His final conclusion is “yeah they don’t have any kind of gauge.”
> 
> He leaves and I call a big Kia dealership and talk to somebody. Answer? “Yeah there is no gauge or indicator for you to know that you’re running out of water and you’re going to melt your engine.”

I’ve never owned a car with a “low coolant” warning light on the instrument cluster, but I suppose that feature might exist in high-end cars. The traditional method for checking coolant level is to get the engine up to normal operating temperature, then pop the hood and take a look at the coolant overflow reservoir, which typically has “MIN” and “MAX” marks molded on its side. If the level is between those marks, then you’re good. If it’s low, then you add coolant/water to the reservoir.

My experience has been that there’s no need to open the radiator for a look. Out of curiosity, I dug up the owner manual for your car (**[PDF file can be found on this page](https://owners.kia.com/content/owners/en/manuals.html)**), and waddyaknow, on page 7-29, they do say to start with a **cold** engine and pop the radiator cap for a look. Which means:

> [@Stoid](#):
>
> Also call Walmart to ask if they talked to check if I had water in my car when they were busy giving it oil and they said no that’s not part of the service because the radiator might be hot and they might hurt and That makes it a safety issue.

This was a legit answer on their part, but better customer service might have meant someone telling you that you should check it periodically yourself in accordance with the owner manual (i.e. at least once a year).

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