Is this normal for my Surf?

[JimSuperSix]

Newbie here - just bought a Surf after having a 2.4 pickup for a while.

About a week ago I though that seeing as winter is coming up I wanted to be sure the coolant is OK, so I checked the expansion bottle to find just a little bit at the Min mark. I thought that was low so I topped it up.

Upon checking today it is back down at the min mark again.

My immediate fear was some sort of head or gasket problem, but there are no leaks anywhere that I can see (when it is idling or starting from cold), no oil leaks, no steam in the exhaust and it doesn't overheat. There is also no mayo in the oil filler.

What is the normal level for the coolant to sit at when cold? Perhaps I just overfilled it and it sprayed the excess out of the expansion tank overflow? Help please - engines make me very paranoid !

[mat1]

i am certainly no expert but my expansion bottle is always almost empty. i know if i take my rad cap off,i can see the collent inside before the pipe bend.
however, like i say, i am not an expert.......
if you want a quick answer, check out the search. collent systems and expansion bottles are a big subject and i will place much money on one of the old threads answering your problem

[Koi]

First off check coolant level under rad cap, expansion bottle only holds a couple or so of inches at best. See mark on side of bottle for maximum mark, do not fill more than this. the the coolant expands as it gets hot and pressurises, the rad cap allows coolant into the expansion bottle. As it cools it is sucked back in to the engine, if you fill the bottle right up and the coolant then expands it will just push it out of the expansion bottle.
Also check/replace rad cap as if its faulty (opening before the right pressure) it could be allowing to much coolant in the expanison bottle and over flowing it, hence as it cools it can only suck back whats left in the bottle and make the level low.