When Should I Change My Coolant?

When Should I Change My Coolant?

Keeping your coolant fresh is vital to your engine’s health. It not only helps prevent overheating in the summer but also keeps your radiator from freezing in the winter. However, antifreeze breaks down over time and becomes less effective, so it is important to change it regularly. How regularly? Well, the short answer is that most manufacturers recommend changing your coolant every two years or 30,000 miles, whichever comes first. Yet there are some exceptions.

What’s the Difference between Coolant and Antifreeze?

First, though, let's understand what we’re dealing with: Antifreeze is a concentrated chemical additive that comes as a liquid and can stop water from freezing at lower temperatures. You have to blend antifreeze with actual water before putting it into your car, and the resulting mixture of antifreeze and water is called coolant — even though it maintains its anti-freezing capability, too.

WARNING: Antifreeze contains a deadly poison capable of killing in very small doses and should never be left in open containers where kids or pets can reach it. Some dogs and cats will even actively seek out open antifreeze based on its smell.

How Can I Tell When to Replace My Antifreeze?

The guidelines mentioned above — two years or 30,000 miles — are just that: guidelines. The harder your coolant works, the quicker it degrades and loses its effectiveness. So if you drive in extreme conditions, with very hot summers and/or very cold winters, you may need to change your antifreeze more often.

You can also look for a few signs that may indicate that your antifreeze needs to be changed earlier. For example, if your anti-freeze looks rusty/dirty, has a noticeably sweet smell, or has a low pH level (which is easy to check with inexpensive test strips or pH meters).

What Type of Antifreeze Should I Use?

When replacing anything in your car, including antifreeze, you should always check the manufacturer's recommendations in your owner’s manual or online. That said, there are three basic kinds of antifreeze available:

Inorganic — Made with different silicates and phosphates, inorganic antifreeze was the first to be invented and remains relatively inexpensive. You do have to change it more often, however.

Organic — So-called organic antifreeze is the most common nowadays and relies on ethylene or propylene glycol so you can go longer between changes. The trade off is that organic antifreeze is more expensive.

Hybrid — As you might guess, hybrid antifreeze combines organic and inorganic ingredients to try to achieve the best of both worlds.

Tips on Working with Antifreeze

Especially given antifreeze’s poisonous properties, it’s essential that you take care when changing/adding it to your vehicle. Remember:

• Old antifreeze should be considered toxic waste and disposed of properly. Do not simply pour it down the drain.

• Make sure that your engine is cool before you start working on it.

• Wear gloves and eye protection when handling antifreeze.

• Be careful not to spill antifreeze on the ground.

• If you do spill antifreeze, clean it up immediately with water.

Now that you know more about antifreeze and coolant, you can start shopping here, start selling here, and enjoy the whole HMSMC site from wherever you have an Internet connection.