Over time, antifreeze turns into acid. Acid dissolves metal. Your engine, radiator and heater are all made of metal. This will cause coolant to leak out of your vehicle. Low coolant will cause an engine to overheat. Today's engines are fragile and on overheat can murder your engine.
First things first. What's the difference between antifreeze and coolant? Nothing! In the winter, we tend to think of the fluid in the radiator as antifreeze. In the summer we like to call it coolant. 100% antifreeze should never be used. It has to be mixed with water to be effective. A little known fact: Pure antifreeze will freeze somewhere around 10 degrees above zero, but when mixed with some water, it won't freeze until about 70 degrees BELOW ZERO! For most climates, half water and half antifreeze make an ideal coolant. It will not freeze until it gets colder than 35 degrees BELOW ZERO.
But you say it never gets that cold. Antifreeze has four important properties.
- It lowers the freezing point of water
- It raises the boiling point of water
- It improves the ability of water to remove the heat
- It has chemicals to prevent corrosion.
But antifreeze breaks down chemically over time and becomes acid. There are chemicals in the antifreeze to neutralize the acid that forms (sort of like Rolaids for your radiator). But when that chemical is used up, the antifreeze turns acidic.
The amount of acidity (or alkalinity, the opposite of acidity) can be measured. This measurement is called pH. The LOWER the number, the more acidic the antifreeze is. Pure water measures 7. But a test result of 7 does not mean the antifreeze is okay. Testing is only so accurate. A measurement of 7 could reasonably be anywhere between 7 1/2 and 6 1/2. Because acidic antifreeze causes costly damage and because a cooling system flush and refill is so inexpensive, we recommend changing antifreeze as soon as the pH test drops to 7.
With this emphasis on testing, you are probably are thinking “Testing! Nobody does that.” Wrong. Every time we check a vehicle with a cooling system problem and every time we perform our Premium Preventative Maintenance oil change service, we test the coolant pH. This will help prevent engine overheating that can murder your engine.
This is just another reason you should bring your vehicle to Clearview Tire and Auto Service, our car and light truck repair shop on North Main Street in Hopkinsville, Kentucky for the best cooling system service anywhere. And if you would like a FREE coolant pH test, come to Cleaview and just mention this blog. That's another reason so many people say “TAKE IT TO CLEARVIEW!” See our Coupon page for discount coupons.