How often should i change my coolant?

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Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Running straight coolant is not a good idea unless you're buying a coolant which is a 50/50 mix. It can actually cause an overheating problem.
I saw this happen on a friend's car back in the '80s. 100% coolant made his car run 20 degrees or so hotter than a 50/50 mix and IMHO nothing is gained by using a 100% concentration (as shown below). I am also not a fan of mixing coolant types or colors


There are some cooling systems using 100% glycol but they have to be designed to take into account the lower thermal conductivity. The upside is a high boiling point.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Not sure why it is called coolant; It is antifreeze.
once mixed with water it becomes a coolant with antifreeze and corrosion resistant properties


So the concentrate should be called 'antifreeze' and the premixed stuff 'coolant' lol
 
I would drain the entire system, flush with distilled water only, fill w 50/50 classic green and distilled water, and replace every 2-3 years
 
Thanks for the advice but it has run on just green coolant/antifreeze for more years than i can count, i often take it to car shows during the summer and here during a summer day it can get to nearly 40c ( 100 F ) and it doesn't overheat and the temp stays steady.
What damage could i do just doing what i've done now though?
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
I am running a mix of green and pink coolant in my Capri at the moment, i've always changed it every 4 years using green coolant, am i doing this too often?
My owner's manual reccomends a 50/50 mix of distilled water and coolant, but i run just coolant


Running straight coolant is not a good idea unless you're buying a coolant which is a 50/50 mix. It can actually cause an overheating problem. Some of them also need water added to protect against freezing, contrary to what you might think. I'm not sure about mixing green and pink coolant either. I'll pass on commenting about that since I'm not sure if they were intended to be mixed. As far as the change interval, check the OM and or the maker of the coolant.
Pure glycol boils at a lower temp than a 50 50 mix.
 
Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
Thanks for the advice but it has run on just green coolant/antifreeze for more years than i can count, i often take it to car shows during the summer and here during a summer day it can get to nearly 40c ( 100 F ) and it doesn't overheat and the temp stays steady.
What damage could i do just doing what i've done now though?


You basically failed chemistry class or didn't take it. Many cars don't actually display the actual temperature which is why you see a steady temperature. You are probably at the high end of the range, but if the temperature is in a specific range, it will show as normal. This was to eliminate complaints to the dealers when the temperature was a little high.

Your system is probably just working harder to get rid of the heat and running hotter as not having water in the mix lowers the efficiency of the system and cars were probably designed with a 50/50 mix in mind. And yes, you are damaging your car by not using a mix, it probably won't show up for a while that's all so that's why you've been able to get away with it. Heat tends to stress everything out and things don't last as long. That's how you normally determine MTBF, heat it up and see how long it takes to fail, then normalize it to regular temperatures. That's how they can make parts that they think will last a hundred thousand hours, but don't actually spend a hundred thousand hours testing it.
 
I would do 4 years, and go back to the 50/50 mix.

I think 2-3 years is too often.

I don't think there is anything to be gained by running straight coolant.
 
A couple of things:

1. Pure antifreeze is combustible. If you get a pinhole leak in a hose spraying on the exhaust, your car will incinerate itself.

2. The OP is in Spain. I don't know about Spain, but if it is anything like Mexico, pure antifreeze is very difficult to find, so it is quite possible the coolant in the car is premix.
 
You really only have to change the coolant once in the lifetime of the car, when the original coolant gets too old. After that, you will most likely be replacing a radiator/water pump/hose, or something else requiring you to drain the coolant when the car gets old and in those instances you just replace it with new stuff. Yes, I did this on my 1995 Escort, and when I replaced the radiator last December it was perfectly clean in the inside (I removed the plastic side tanks when I was done with that radiator).
 
Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
Thanks for the advice but it has run on just green coolant/antifreeze for more years than i can count, i often take it to car shows during the summer and here during a summer day it can get to nearly 40c ( 100 F ) and it doesn't overheat and the temp stays steady.
What damage could i do just doing what i've done now though?


A) 40C/100F isn't hot weather. Its about the average high in August for much of the US southwest, below average for a lot of that.

B) Running straight antifreeze can do a lot of unpleasant things in a cooling system not designed for it. Your dash gauge measures the bulk temperature of the coolant as its on its way out of the engine adn back to the radiator. What its DOESN'T measure is the myriad of tiny hot pockets that can form in the cylinder heads around the combustion chambers. Water in the mix increases the heat capacity of the coolant and helps control those little hot pockets from forming in areas where the flow stagnates.

C) You keep posting about all the problems with the car (burning oil, "does my engine sound rattly" videos, now "car shakes violently on acceleration," and so on.) And yet you keep doing exactly.. the... same... things. Running too-thick oil, running pure antifreeze, etc. Why are you even asking questions?
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Running straight coolant is not a good idea unless you're buying a coolant which is a 50/50 mix. It can actually cause an overheating problem.
I saw this happen on a friend's car back in the '80s. 100% coolant made his car run 20 degrees or so hotter than a 50/50 mix and IMHO nothing is gained by using a 100% concentration (as shown below). I am also not a fan of mixing coolant types or colors


There are some cooling systems using 100% glycol but they have to be designed to take into account the lower thermal conductivity. The upside is a high boiling point.


This is true, but I don't think it pertains to the OP's car. If the OP's car was mine, I'd flush out the mix he has, get the proper coolant [undiluted if possible] and probably use a 55/45 coolant to distilled water mix. If a 50/50 mix is all he could get then I'd use that and confirm the mix is correct with a coolant tester.
 
I used to use green coolant and still do in a few vehicles but i haven't done the 2 year swap in quite a while and haven't seen any harsh effects from it.


in a couple vehicles I've also been running the extended life mix with all kind of coolant that is good for 5 years.

that's probably what i'll end up putting in both my cycles.
 
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
You really only have to change the coolant once in the lifetime of the car, when the original coolant gets too old. After that, you will most likely be replacing a radiator/water pump/hose, or something else requiring you to drain the coolant when the car gets old and in those instances you just replace it with new stuff. Yes, I did this on my 1995 Escort, and when I replaced the radiator last December it was perfectly clean in the inside (I removed the plastic side tanks when I was done with that radiator).


You need to change it every two years because the colour is green.
crackmeup2.gif
 
FCD, first just make sure you know what you have and what you are buying.

If you have concentrate (100%) the you need to mix it half and half with distilled water to make a 50% mix.

However many places sell premix coolant, with is already diluted to 50% and you just pour this straight into the car (no water to add).

The stores here sell both, and they look similar and can be confused. The concentrate is usually more expensive.

If you used premix coolant then you are fine. If you used concentrate then you need to drain and dilute.

Just make sure you know what you have.
 
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