“JUST THE TIP

BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE!

Antifreeze. Yep, just dump some in the radiator. We’re good…right? If only it that were that simple! What is it and what does it do? Well obviously, it prevents the water in your engine from freezing in cold temperatures but did you ever think about how or why we also call it coolant?

It’s anti-freeze but also coolant. Let’s start with the basics –what is it? The main ingredient of antifreeze is ethylene glycol. Ethylene can be converted to Ethanol through several methods; what is Ethanol? ALCOHOL! Does it freeze? Not at the temperatures that water freezes. In layman’s terms, a gallon of antifreeze is the same as a gallon of Jim Beam. We add antifreeze to the water that goes in the radiator, and subsequently runs through the engine, and this ethylene glycol prevents the water from freezing in cold conditions. We have done articles in the past about air pressure in the tires, and how susceptible air is to hot and cold, in terms of expansion or contraction. Water doesn’t play like air though. While air will continue to condense under colder and colder temperatures, water does the opposite. Water expands at high temperatures but also expands at cold temperatures. Water is at its most dense point at 34 degrees Fahrenheit. Any lower than that and it starts to expand. Even in a frozen state, where this liquid water is now a solid, it will continue to expand. The colder it gets, the more expansion.

Did you also know that antifreeze will freeze if not mixed with water? Ethylene glycol will freeze between 0 and minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit; however, when mixed with water, it lowers the freezing point to minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit.

If it’s antifreeze, why is it also a coolant? Water is great at absorbing heat and consequently, bleeding that heat off. Pure antifreeze lacks sufficient heat capacity to keep the engine cool. If you put pure antifreeze into the cooling system, the heat-transfer capabilities are lowered by 35%, and it could damage the engine, especially in hot weather. Therefore, antifreeze is not really a coolant. Once mixed with water, it becomes a coolant (Thank you H2O). Another reason for needing antifreeze, or coolant, or whatever we want to call it at this point, is the lubrication properties of antifreeze. True that it’s the ethylene glycol

“JUST THE TIP BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE!

that keeps the water from freezing in your engine, but there are also additional additives in antifreeze that act as a lubricant for the bearing and seals on your water pump, heating system, and all other aspects of the vehicles cooling system. For ideal reliability, don’t use standard tap water or spring water to make your 50/50 mixture. Most tap/spring water is very mineral rich, also known as hard water, that will be the buildup you see on the fins of the radiator when dumping untreated or unfiltered tap/spring water into your radiator.

The moral of the story here is – get your antifreeze checked at least once a year. We know of several garages that will do it as a courtesy for no charge. Or if you’re ambitious, go to any auto parts location and get one yourself. The test kit is less than $10 and can be reused forever. It is a very simple test that anyone can do; it takes two minutes to make sure your engine temperature will be properly regulated, whether you’re in the Arctic or the middle of the desert.

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