Care for your Coolant

[admin]

Care for your Coolant

Coolant is the one that keeps your systems cool. Coolant is the fluid that absorbs all heat generated from the engine. It is the coolant that then dissipates it through the radiator. Some of the heat is also dissipated by way of the heat exchanger in the passenger console during winters. You often call the Coolant as antifreeze. In fact Coolant comes as a mixture of ethylene or propylene glycol and water. Generally it is a blended mixture of either of the two glycols with water in equal proportions (that is, in a 50/50 ratio).

Since the coolant serves in dissipating heat from your car’s system, it is quite precious for your car’s good health. This would mean you ought to take proper care of your coolant if you wish to enjoy care free rides.

Servicing the coolant

You need not to worry a lot about servicing the coolant. What you need to do is to just drain and/or flush your car's cooling system first and then follow it up by simply replacing the old coolant with fresh coolant recommended for your car.

Servicing is critical:

It is always advisable to take timely action for your coolant’s needs. Timely draining the spent out coolant and refilling the system with fresh coolant ensures removal of dirt and rust from the system. Dirt and rust can be very detrimental as they clog up the cooling system resulting in problems in all weather conditions. You need to refer your owner’s manual to see the schedule recommended for this service.

Understanding the need for servicing:

You would appreciate how important your action is, once you get to understand what happens to your coolant with time. Since your coolant is exposed all the time to a hot and hostile operating environment, it breaks down with the passage of time. The coolant thus loses its inherent characteristic. Besides there are additives in your coolant called “rust inhibitors” which too get consumed over time. These “rust inhibitors” are the protectors from corrosion for your engine. Once rust inhibitors get consumed your engine is exposed to corrosion. Consumption of rust inhibitors is a gradual process but after a certain threshold limit contamination in the coolant with this debris warrants replacement of coolant.

What you avoid by timely service:

The answer to this question is best understood if you are made a witness to what can happen to your car if you do not service the coolant in time. If the rust inhibitors get fully consumed and still you do not service the coolant by replacing it with fresh coolant then there won’t be anything that can fight the corrosion. Since there are no rust inhibitors left in the coolant to “inhibit” the rust or corrosion the cooling system will rust from the inside out. Do not be surprised if you are told that the engine block is the chief contributor of rust in a car's cooling system.

By your neglect of timely service you expose the other parts also to be affected. With passage of time rust tends to clog the radiator and heater. The end result is engine overheating and a fat check to your garage. It is left for you to decide whether you want to end up with an easy ride car or a wealthy mechanic.

A stitch in time saves nine!

• Check your coolant level periodically. Your owner's manual will have a recommended interval in which to check the coolant level.
• If you check your coolant level when the engine is cold, the coolant should be at or above the "minimum" or "fill" line on the transparent refill container.
• If you check your coolant level when the engine is hot, the coolant should be at or just below the "max" line.
• Disappearance of coolant could be caused by either an external or internal leak, the latter being more expensive. Either one should be addressed quickly, since running low or out of coolant can lead to catastrophic engine failure.
• If you live where the temperature dips below freezing, we suggest that you ask your mechanic to check the concentration of the coolant. Coolant that's diluted or weak can freeze when the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Check your owner's manual to see if your car uses "long-life" coolant. For the first 100,000 miles, it is necessary to check the coolant level simply to be sure you're not leaking or burning coolant

Commercial brands of common coolants/antifreeze:

Propylene glycol is sold under the brand names Sierra, Prestone Low Tox and Texaco PG.

The photo below shows a plastic coolant recovery tank (top of photo) connected to the radiator by a hose. Most cars have this type of arrangement so there's no need to open the radiator cap itself (orange label at bottom). The coolant level should be at the tank's MAX or HOT line when the engine is hot and lower when it's cold.




DISCLAIMER: The contents of this article are not necessarily the official views of, nor endorsed by, the owner of HondaClub(com).

[racersedge]

cool this is useful info to me.thanks cos in sri lanka its hard to get.thnkz again cheers

[marcos]

so is the drain plug under the radiator

[PrimeTimeV6]

Yes the plug is located on the bottom of the radiator.
And when you do a fluid change and flush an added thing you can do is remove the thermostat and either change or clean it as well. This is just a precaution b/c with a flush it can break up large deposits in the block and cooling system that may get caught in the thermostat. You may also want to remove your radiator and get it professionally serviced.