What is the purpose of coolant

[Verve]

after reading the threads

 

i know it bring engine temp down

prevents cavitation of cylinder

 

the rest a bit technical for me

 

what i really like to know is the bottom line

 

what does it really do other than protect the cylinders

 

lower fc?

smoother engine?

 

my car is on tap water, if no tangible effects then i won t be going to coolant

 

 

[Weiming]

Coolant is more applicable for temperature countries where water can freeze. The coolant prevents water from freezing and thus stopping the flow of water in your cooling system that will cause your engine to overheat.

 

For us in tropical climate, we do not need to use so much coolant. A mixture of 70% water and 30% coolant is typically good enough. The coolant in our context is to have anti-rust property to prevent the internal of pipes and radiators from rusting out.

 

Pure racing engines use 100% water (de-ionized) for max cooling efficiency.

[Hisap]

what weiming said is right.

 

In our coutry, it works as anti rust and ANTI foaming.

 

the idea is to keep it as liquidity as possible.

 

Foam is no good. Does not helps in cooling down at all.

 

Water contains bad properties that will accelerate the rust. But then again, nowadays, things comes in alloy or aluminium. So its more for anti choke as well.

 

Havong said that, it is known that pure water is provides the best cooling efficiency.

Mix coolant with DISTILLED water.

Edited November 15, 2009 by Hisap

[SporeHongkong]

have been filling up with tap water all this while, recently when topping up water again, saw that there's alot of darkish yellow particles in the water tank, if i'm not wrong is rust right? how to get rid of these, do i go get the coolent as said or distilled water from now on? thks

[Yeobh]

City Pipe water is often treated with chlorine, which is corrosive, and should be avoided.

 

* A 50/50 mixture the coolant will boil at 107 deg C (228deg F) and freeze at -37deg C (-34deg F)

* A 70/30 mixture the coolant will boil at 135 deg C (276deg F) and freeze at -64deg C (-84deg F)

* A solution with more than 70% antifreeze will give less protection.

* Pure antifreeze will freeze at -21C (-6 F)

 

Besides influencing the freezing and boiling temp, antifreeze is also a lubricant and rust inhabitant

[Yeobh]

Time to flush the cooling system and replace will fresh coolant

[SporeHongkong]

already did..but now the bottom area abit leaking..

[Watwheels]

I can't understand you guys. The cooling system is the most essential system in cooling your engine in your car. Using tap water is unthinkable. Have you ever thought of what's the boiling point of tap water and the boiling point of coolant? Will there be any extra pressure build up as compared to coolant? The amount of oxygen in tap water. The aluminium oxide produced, what are the chemical reactions? Weakening of the aluminium structure due to overheating if not sufficiently cooled.

 

How much can the coolant cost you anyway? Compare it to the cost you have to pay for the damage of your cooling system and the problems related to it if you use tap water.

[Joseph22]

My Colleague who is a engineering. (i am in ship building line.) he told me that Coolant help to prevent rust in the car. Although its truth that local car can run on tap water, but its still more advicable to use coolant to protect the engine.

[Yuan]

City Pipe water is often treated with chlorine, which is corrosive, and should be avoided.

 

* A 50/50 mixture the coolant will boil at 107 deg C (228deg F) and freeze at -37deg C (-34deg F)

* A 70/30 mixture the coolant will boil at 135 deg C (276deg F) and freeze at -64deg C (-84deg F)

* A solution with more than 70% antifreeze will give less protection.

* Pure antifreeze will freeze at -21C (-6 F)

 

Besides influencing the freezing and boiling temp, antifreeze is also a lubricant and rust inhabitant

 

What is the mileage interval to change and replace our coolant?

 

I am due 80k servicing and last changed my coolant at 45k mileage.

[Octopus]

I done my coolant flush at Stamford Tyre, they using Caltex Extended Life Coolant. According to Caltex website, this coolant is good for 250,000km or 5 years.

https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/PDSDeta...p;docFormat=PDF

 

But.... how come I see the colour of coolant is green but data sheet say its orange?

[Yuan]

I done my coolant flush at Stamford Tyre, they using Caltex Extended Life Coolant. According to Caltex website, this coolant is good for 250,000km or 5 years.

https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/PDSDeta...p;docFormat=PDF

 

But.... how come I see the colour of coolant is green but data sheet say its orange?

 

I am using OEM for my coolant. Green colour as well.

[Yeobh]

Some coolant makers recommend replacing @ every 2yrs intervals and for some long life coolant makers they insist thier product can last five years.

The best way is to check the cooling system coolant is with a PH gauge. Any reading less than 8.5 will be considered bad and should be replaced. For topping up always check with the exisiting coolant with a antifreeze hydrometer to confirm the coolant mixture ratio.

[Yuan]

Some coolant makers recommend replacing @ every 2yrs intervals and for some long life coolant makers they insist thier product can last five years.

The best way is to check the cooling system coolant is with a PH gauge. Any reading less than 8.5 will be considered bad and should be replaced. For topping up always check with the exisiting coolant with a antifreeze hydrometer to confirm the coolant mixture ratio.

 

Thanks for your sharing. This is indeed informative.

[Tigershark1976]

Just some general info on coolant for the benefit for those who is not aware:

 

1) most coolants are not design to bring down the temp. it only works as anti rust & anti freeze. In tropical country in Singapore, we need the coolant inly for its anti rust capability.

 

2) Most car manufacturers recomended a 50%-50% mix for cars. however, in a tropical country like Singapore. a 30% coolant + 70% distilled water is recomended to bring down the temp more effectively.

 

3) When the water level at the coolant reservoir reduce, Only water was evaporate by the heat, not the coolant. that is why, only add in distilled water. not coolant.

 

4) Change your coolant according to your manufacturer recomendation. Diff manufacturer recomending diff changing interval. eg- toyota recomended 100,000km change by using the toyota long life coolant...

 

5) Do not mix collant of different brand unless you are aware of the content in the coolant. i cant recall the details but basically its due to different chemical used in diff brand and diff chemical may reach with each other blaa... blaa... blaa...

 

6) Flushing of collant is recomended during each change especially diff coolant is use.

 

7) last but not least, do not open the radiator cap when the engine is hot. Only open the cap after your engine is cool down... you may seen experience mech open the hot radiator cap by slowing opening the cap using very thick cloth and releasing the pressure slowly but if you dont know how to do it, dont try. The hot steam, couple with higly pressurised radiator + hot coolant mix WILL caused very serious burn....

Edited November 29, 2009 by Tigershark1976

[Vinceh]

3) When the water level at the coolant reservoir reduce, Only water was evaporate by the heat, not the coolant. that is why, only add in distilled water. not coolant.

 

the whole cooling system is a closed system. why would the level reduce if there are no leaks?

[Tigershark1976]

the whole cooling system is a closed system. why would the level reduce if there are no leaks?

 

 

good question. i cant answer that cos im not an mech engineer. correct me if Im wrong, all car's coolant level drops over time.... by the way. cooling system not 100% closed. look at the coolant reservoir, there is an overflow outlet that allows the coolant mix to flow out when overfilled. That little outlet, is "opening" the whole system alrd...

 

 

[Modykoh]

the bro had mentioned that the heat or the evapourtion had bought the water level down...