Changing your car’s coolant
The coolant in the system has to be replaced once every year or 20,000 miles. If the temperature gauge steadily shows a higher reading than normal, then that is an indication that the coolant has to be changed.
If you are still uncertain about changing the coolant here are a few more things that may be helpful in determining whether the coolant needs to changed.
1) If you have added water after the initial flush and fill up.
If you have frequently added water then you might have diluted the coolant to an extent where its action is ineffective. Cheap and accurate equipments are available that test a small sample of the coolant inside the radiator and indicate whether a change is needed. You can purchase one at a local auto parts store.
2) If you live in conditions which are extreme, then checks have to be made frequently and the coolant level has to be topped up accordingly. An extra dose of anti-freeze might be added to the system if the winters are extremely cold. Never exceed 70/30 ratio of anti-freeze to water.
3) Another basic test is a visual test. The radiator cap is removed and the coolant inside the tank is visually inspected for rust and other suspended particles. If it appears to be affected badly, then change is needed.
4) Before the summer sets in the level of the coolant should be compulsorily checked and action has to be taken accordingly. During summer the temperature of the engine is higher due to the higher surrounding temperatures as well as the possible excessive usage of the air-conditioner.
6 Responses to “Changing your car’s coolant”
Slow but steady water loss can be an early indicator of a blowing head gasket. If your coolant is rusty I would recommend flushing your radiator with a hose, ideally by removing it from the vehicle. Mind ya knuckles when you undo the bottom radiator hose clip tho
If you want to flush your system, see if you can find out the location of the drain bolt in the cylinder head too. Sediment build up in a cooling system can kill a car/engine (overheating,warped cylinder head)
good info shrawan. very useful. keep it up.
This is a very bad tip. First consult your factory maintenance manual. Service intervals can be up to 5 years or 100,000 miles. They major reason to change coolant in not because it has become diluted, it is because the PH and lubricating properties of the coolant have changed or worn out. Dex-Cool is famous for this if it has exceeded its service life it becomes very corrosive to the cooling system. I have changed most of the parts in a cooling system due to this factor. Second increased temperature of the engine does not indicate that the coolant needs to be changed. Most likely something else is failing of broken, changing the coolant will not repair that fault. Better advise is to add coolant that is premixed 50% coolant and 50% distiled water, yes I said distiled water. An important note; in my shop I have found that customers are mixing different types of coolant in their cars, this does do significant damage to the cooling system. Very few cars use green coolant anymore, so again, check your manual for the correct coolant type for you vehicle, and read the directions on the coolant bottle it will tell you what is the maximum concentration level. Finally, one of the greatest dangers with replacing the coolant in your vehicle is to make sure that all of the air is out of the system. I have done more than one head gasket job for customers that did not get the cooling system properly bleed out. Again, many new cars have special cooling system bleeding procedures. Check a good workshop repair manual to see if you need to do this. last but not least always use the coolant type that was a factory fill on your vehicle.
every tip is for a particular vehicle…and its pretty much common sense when flushing the coolant system..the manuals have to be read before starting out on the job..
very rightly said. thats why you have specialists who run garages to attend to cars.
I’ve just bought a used Honda Concerto. I’ve located the drainage plug for the radiator and drained the coolant from there. However, the owner’s manual states that I need to drain the engine too by removing a drainage bolt from the cylinder head. I can’t locate this, but there is a threadd hole on the cylinder head which seems to have a bolt missing. My expansion tank was empty when I bought the car, so I suspect that this hole could well be the drainage hole and has been leaking fluid. I poured deionized water into the expansion tank, hoping to see water drain from the hole and, thus, establishing the location of the drainage bolt (or at least where it should have been!) However, nothing happened. Does the engine need to be running for the coolant to drain from here and, since I cant locate the bleed bolt, can anyone tell me an alternative method of bleeding the cooling system?
Kind regards
Mick
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