Bulb Tester
Garage Pointers – Winterize Your Vehicle – Do It Yourself and Save
Winterizing your vehicle is a must for people who live in parts of the country where the outside temperature gets below freezing. Your car is your best friend when it’s cold outside. In the summer you can always walk or maybe ride your bike to get where you need to go, but in the winter, brrrr, I like the heater.
Your heater won’t work though if your car is not properly winterized. Many times people will neglect this important measure, until it’s too late, to make sure the “coolant” is clean, adjusted to the proper “anti-freeze” mixture, and the coolant system is at the proper level.
We all used to call the water in your vehicles radiator anti-freeze. Back in the olden days ethylene glycol was mixed with the water so it would not freeze when the weather turned cold. Now we call that mixture “coolant” because not only will this mixture prevent freezing, but will also be an advantage against boil over when the temperatures outside are hot, and will also help prevent corrosion in the cooling system.
When you start your car, the engine builds heat caused from friction of the pistons moving up and down and the combustion of fuel. Your engine block has passage ways that contain the coolant. The coolant absorbs the heat and then is pumped away from the cylinders to the radiator through the “water pump”. I guess now it should be called the coolant pump. The coolant will flow through the top of the radiator work its way to the bottom, and the fan on your engine, or an electric fan will pull air through the radiator and cool the coolant. The water pump then pushes the coolant back into the engine and the whole process starts over again.
Your engine also has a thermostat. The thermostat will close when the engine is cold allowing the block to warm up. Warming up the engine is essential for good power and fuel economy. Most newer engines will run about 210 degrees Fahrenheit for gasoline powered engines, and about 180 degrees Fahrenheit for diesel engines. When the thermostat senses the temperature of the coolant is high enough, the thermostat will open allowing the coolant to be pumped from the engine to the radiator. The radiator is connected to the engine with two hoses, an upper radiator hose and a lower radiator hose. At the same time, the coolant is pumped through the “heater core”. The heater core is the part used to warm up the inside of your vehicle, and is also connected to the engine and radiator with “heater” hoses. Hot coolant flows through the core heating it up and then a fan blows over the core sending warm air into the cabin.
Your vehicle’s cooling system also has a radiator cap which needs to be checked. The cap will let pressure build in the cooling system. Pressure will developed from change in coolant temperature. This is good. Pressure in the system raises the boiling point of the coolant. The boiling point of plain water of course is 212 degrees Fahrenheit, but for every pound of pressure the boiling point will raise 3 degrees. Most gasoline powered vehicles will have a 15 pound cap, thus raising the boiling point of the water to about 257 degrees. If you have a gauge in your vehicle, you will probably notice the red line starts in that neighborhood. If the pressure gets too high, the cap will vent. Excessive pressure can cause damage to the radiator, heater core or the hoses and could cause a leak to develop.
If your coolant is low, air will replace coolant in the engine block, radiator and heater core. The heater core would never warm up, thus cold air would be sent into the vehicle. Your cooling system may not work properly either because the thermostat would not be able to sense the coolant temperature and not open, and the coolant would not be properly cooled, thus over heating of the engine may occur.
Improper coolant mixture can cause a variety of problems. Not only does the coolant keep the cooling system from freezing it also keeps corrosion from developing in the radiator and heater core. When corrosion develops it eats away at the tubing in the radiator and heater core and will cause a leak. When your coolant freezes, the “ice” will expand inside the cooling system and can damage the radiator and even cause your engine block to crack.
Pumping of the coolant will cause some “wear” in the system. This is normal and really cannot be prevented. The coolant will get “dirty” from this wear and could cause problems with the water pump, and could potentially clog the radiator, heater core, or the thermostat. Check your coolant and if it looks dirty, drain it out and replace it with new coolant.
Checking the cooling system on your vehicle is easy. Vehicles since the 1970′s all have what I will call an “overflow jug”. This jug is usually located on the fender well in the engine compartment, and is white plastic, semi transparent. On the jug will be a couple of lines indicating how full it needs to be. One will read “Full Cold” the other which is higher up on the jug will read “Full Hot”. You can “look through” the jug and see the coolant level, and can check it whether the engine is cold or hot. On top of the jug is a plastic cap you can take off to add coolant. You can do this with the engine hot or cold because there is no pressure in the jug. Slight adjustments to the level in the jug may be needed because of simple evaporation.
While you have the jug cap off, BEFORE you add any coolant, you can check the mixture.
All you have to do is stick the tube in the coolant, squeeze the bulb at the top, release and let the coolant fill the tube, and then count how many disks float. Read the label on the side of the tester and
that will indicate how low the outside temperature can be before your coolant will freeze.
Auto Barn has a nice tester for less than $20.00. CLICK HERE Just type in antifreeze tester in the search box.
If your mixture checks good, the level is OK, and the coolant is not dirty (stuff floating around in the mixture) then you are done. If your mixture checks good, but the level is low, just add enough coolant to bring the level up to the “full cold” mark on the jug. If the jug is EMPTY, you will need to see how much is in the radiator. An empty jug usually indicates a leak. If the mixture doesn’t check good or is dirty, you should drain out the old coolant and fill the cooling system with new coolant. A dirty cooling system may also require a “flush”. If you need more information, you may want to read the related article listed below.
To find out what is the correct coolant for your vehicle, there should be a label pasted in the engine compartment, providing the information you need, or look in your vehicles owner’s manual. Now, though, you can purchase coolant that is made for every vehicle and coolant type that will mix in with the coolant you already have in your vehicle. You can use which ever coolant you prefer. Read the labels!!.
You should not have to take the radiator cap off to add coolant unless it is extremely low or unless you are replacing the coolant. The only reason it would be low is if you have a leak, or another problem with the engine using it, which means you have already neglected the cooling system to the point that you need a mechanic.
NEVER and I mean NEVER, under any circumstance, try to take the radiator cap off when the engine is HOT. Doing so will release pressure of the cooling system and will result in HOT, SCALDING coolant to spew everywhere, including onto YOU, and will cause SEVERE burns. You MUST let your engine cool off before working on the cooling system.
To winterize your vehicle you must check to see if the coolant is clean and at the proper level, check the coolant mixture, and check your belts and hoses. If you want more information on automobile maintenance, go to Cyber City Plaza. Enter the site and go to the “Automobiles” category. You will find everything you need to winterize your vehicle along with tips to help you get the job done right.
About the Author
Dan Edwards a professional mechanic and is the owner of Cyber City Plaza.
Cyber City Plaza is a place on the internet where you can go to find a variety of products and services.
We have pre-screened all of our merchants to make sure the public receives a High Quality product.
To view other articles about servicing your vehicle and to find everything you need to take of your vehicle CLICK HERE.
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