Coolant and washer fluid are two of the easiest things to top up yourself — but coolant is also the one under-bonnet job where people get burned. Here is how to do both safely.
Never open a hot cooling system
This is the rule that matters. A hot cooling system is under pressure, and removing the cap releases boiling coolant and steam upward. Wait until the engine is completely cold — ideally first thing in the morning. If the car has just overheated, give it a few hours, not a few minutes.
Checking coolant
Look for the plastic overflow bottle (the reservoir) near the radiator. It has MIN and MAX marks on the side. You can read the level through the plastic without opening anything — that is the safe way. If it sits between the marks, you are fine.
Topping up
Use the coolant type your manufacturer specifies. Colour is a rough guide but not a rule — green, red, pink, blue and orange coolants use different chemistry, and mixing the wrong ones can turn the mixture to sludge. Your manual or the workshop that services your car will tell you which one to use.
Most coolant is sold either pre-mixed (ready to pour) or as a concentrate that must be diluted with demineralised water. Read the bottle. Never fill a cooling system with plain tap water except as an emergency measure to get home — tap water leaves deposits and gives no corrosion protection.
Pour slowly into the overflow bottle up to the MAX line. Do not overfill.
If you keep losing coolant
A cooling system is sealed. If the level keeps dropping, you have a leak or something worse, and topping it up is only hiding the symptom. Look for puddles under the car, white residue around hoses, or sweet-smelling steam. Get it checked.
Washer fluid
Easy one. Find the cap with the windscreen and water symbol and fill it up. Use a proper washer additive rather than plain water — it cuts through bugs, road film and grease far better, and it does not go stale and smelly in the bottle.
Keep it topped up in summer. Nothing ruins visibility faster than smearing a windscreen full of insects with a dry wiper.