Ways That Coolant Helps Keep Your Car Healthy
The coolant performs several functions as it travels throughout the cooling system in your car. It contains additives that help to prevent the engine from both overheating and from freezing in cold temperatures. It also contains anti-corrosive elements that inhibit the formation of rust.
Over time, with constant exposure to heat, the condition of the coolant deteriorates so that it does not protect the engine as well, so it is important to change it regularly.
Coolant Helps To Moderate Engine Temperature
The combustion engine in your car constantly generates heat, and the radiator and cooling system work to dissipate this heat. Coolant plays a central role due to its capacity to hold, transfer and release energy. As the coolant moves throughout the tunnels in the engine block, it picks up the heat generated by the combustion process. The coolant then cools as it progresses through the radiator.
The pressurised conditions that exist in the radiator and cooling system help the coolant to dissipate heat. The cooling system is a closed pressurised environment. As the coolant heats up once the car is running, the pressure increases. As atmospheric pressure increases, this increases the temperature at which liquids boil. The pressurised conditions in the radiator and cooling system thus delay the point at which the coolant boils, and this means it can more efficiently keep the engine cool.
Coolant not only helps to prevent your car from overheating, but it also helps to keep it from freezing. An ingredient in the coolant, usually ethylene glycol, both raises the point at which it boils and lowers the point at which it freezes. Thus coolant has a very high boiling point and a very low freezing point.
Coolant Helps To Prevent Corrosion
Coolant contains anti-corrosive additives that inhibit rust build up in the system. However over time the coolant gradually wears down so that its anti-corrosive abilities diminish. If too much rust builds up, it can block passages in the radiator and engine block causing the motor to overheat. It is for this reason that coolant requires regular drains and refills or flushes to maintain its condition.
Coolant is the lifeblood of the cooling system; it helps to protect your car from overheating, freezing and corrosion. It is important to refresh the coolant regularly so that it continues to efficiently protect your engine all year round. If you have any concerns about cooling systems or radiators, make sure to contact your mechanic.
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