From that reservoir, coolant flows into and circulates through the engine block, protecting your vehicle from extreme heat or cold. The coolant system works as a simple loop. A pump will send engine coolant to your engine block when the car is running. When you first start your car, allowing the engine to warm up, the coolant will bypass the radiator. As the car heats up, the coolant system valve will allow the coolant to flow through the radiator.
Coolant is essential to preventing your engine from overheating. Your vehicle needs engine coolant to run efficiently and safely. Over time, coolant becomes less effective. It can also protect your engine from corrosive elements and improve its performance. What ingredients go into high-performing engine coolant? One anti-corrosive is not necessarily superior to another. Different ingredients are used to solve different issues.
For example, cars made in Asia have had issues with poor heat transfer. As a result, engine coolant for cars manufactured in Asia does not use coolants with silicates. Instead, phosphates and carboxylates fill the anti-corrosive role.
In Europe, engine coolant had to solve a different problem. Hard water, containing the minerals calcium and magnesium, had a reaction with phosphate inhibitors in engine coolant, causing scale to form on car engines.
So, engine coolant for cars made in Europe does not contain phosphates. Instead, coolant designed for European cars uses silicates and carboxylates. While antifreeze is a common ingredient in engine coolant, it is not always present. You can use coolant additives without antifreeze to improve heat transfer efficiency within your engine. Some additives can be an effective option in straight water applications.
Plus, an additive like Hy-per Cool Super Coolant is compatible with nearly any type of antifreeze you are already using for your vehicle. Different types of engine coolants are specifically engineered for different types of vehicles. Coolant varieties are categorized by name and color.
You should always use the variety recommended for your car. Six types of engine coolant are:. IAT engine coolant is green. It is made with ethylene glycol with silicate and phosphates added to prevent corrosion. As an older formula, it is not as efficient as some newer types of engine coolant. If your car requires IAT coolant, you will need to flush it and replace it approximately every two years or every 24, miles.
OAT engine coolant is made with a propylene glycol base. Organic acid technology OAT engine coolant is usually orange in color, but it can come in other colors like dark green. Always double-check the label to ensure you do not accidentally grab a color that is a different coolant type. OAT uses organic acid to help protect your engine from corrosion. As a more modern formulation, OAT coolant only needs to be drained and changed every five years or every 50, miles.
Hybrid organic acid technology is one of the three main categories of engine coolant, and it has several subcategories. HOAT coolant was traditionally yellow. You can find HOAT coolant in yellow, orange, green, pink and blue. HOAT uses both silicates and organic acid to protect your engine and combat corrosion. It should be swapped out at the same interval as OAT coolant: every five years of every 50, miles. Phosphate-free HOAT is usually turquoise in color. This NAP-free formula, made with ethylene glycol, contains organic and inorganic corrosion inhibitors to protect your engine.
It does not contain phosphates, such as nitrite, nitrate and borate. It is also a low-silicate formula. The coolant is usually either pink or blue. Due to heat transfer issues, Asian car manufacturers require the use of this type of coolant. Silicated HOAT is usually recognizable by its vibrant purple color. It uses silicates and organic acids to inhibit corrosive action in your engine.
And that heat must be extracted from the mechanisms inside the engine and efficiently dumped to the outside air. Looking for a good online repair manual? Click Here for the 5 best options. How does this happen? Your car will also have an engine with internal water passages, a water pump, a heat exchanger called a radiator, and a bunch of flexible hoses connecting these things together.
How does all this work? When the engine is running the water pump circulates the cooling water through the engine and out to the radiator. The hoses convey this fluid. Every time you drive, the water picks up heat from the engine and releases that heat into the air flowing through the radiator. This prevents your engine from overheating. But the cooling fluid will not be just water but a blend of water and antifreeze.
The technical term for this blend is coolant. Simply put, coolant is the liquid that functions to cool the engine in your car. To fully understand the automotive coolants of today, we must first look at the qualities of the pure water once used for this purpose. But there are several problems with using water alone that made it then and even now less than the ultimate engine coolant. Very early in the development of engines, chemists began to modify water with added chemicals to make it a more suitable coolant.
Early in the history of keeping engines cool, the biggest problem was coolant freezing. And chemists soon found that methyl alcohol methanol could be mixed with water and thus lower its freezing temperature.
Methanol was the first coolant additive called antifreeze. Unfortunately, this antifreeze also lowered the boiling temperature of water introducing a new and major issue. The lowered boiling point using methanol for antifreeze could not be tolerated.
The next step forward was a chemical called glycerol. Not quite low enough for every winter climate condition. An even better product was needed. In , chemists came up with an enduring answer, a petroleum-based derivative called ethylene glycol. When added to water ethylene glycol not only lowered the freezing temperature sufficiently, but it increased the boiling temperature as well. Ethylene glycol became the new antifreeze of choice for combustion engines.
Ethylene glycol has about one half the specific heat value of water. Usually orange, yellow, red or purple, OAT coolants are typically changed every five years or 50, miles. OAT coolants are typically changed every five years or 50, miles, although some automakers specify intervals as long as 10 years or , miles. Coolant type cannot be accurately identified by color.
When changing back to the factory recommended coolant, a complete cooling system flush should be performed first. Related Articles.
0コメント