Heating and air conditioning is what keeps us warm in the winter and cool in the summer. For our vehicles, it’s what keeps us from breaking down. It is critical for your car’s health to keep up on the maintenance or your vehicle’s cooling systems.
The majority of energy from gasoline turns into heat and the main job of the cooling system is to keep the engine from overheating by turning this heat into air. The cooling system uses coolant which has the tendency to break down over time. The radiator in your car contains antifreeze, the coolant that ensures that your engine doesn’t overheat. Like any other component of your car, the radiator must be maintained and coolant levels regularly checked.
For safety reasons it is very important that your follow these steps only when the engine is cool. Then, follow three simple steps to check your engine coolant levels:
- Find the semi-transparent plastic coolant container tank, which is attached to the radiator
through a hose. - Looking at the side of the white plastic, find the “full” and “low” markings. This is where you’ll add the engine coolant, if low, to immediately resolve the problem.
- To prevent the radiator from boiling or freezing, top off the fluid to the full level if necessary.
Regular engine coolant is typically a 50/50 blend of water and ethylene glycol with corrosion protection chemicals. It is important however, that you check your owners manual to select the right type of engine coolant. Radiator coolant is also highly toxic to animals, but very attractive to them because of its sweet taste. Clean up any coolant that you spill on the ground while topping off your coolant to prevent pets from licking it up.
We suggest that you flush out the cooling system once a year. If you don’t pressure gets put on the radiator and your engine runs hotter than it should. This leads to gunk building up under the hood and eventually the overall performance of your vehicle will decline.
Checking coolant fluids and filters is another way to improve performance and gas mileage. A properly working cooling system is absolutely necessary to keep both you and your car safe.
If you would prefer to have a professional check your coolant levels for you, there is an Executive Auto Group auto repair facility near you. Mention this blog post to your Service Advisor at time of writeup for a complimentary coolant level check.
Visit Liberty Mazda or Liberty Honda in the Hartford area, Executive Honda, Executive KIA, Executive Dodge JEEP RAM or The Executive Auto Center Used Car Center in Walling ford and Acura by Executive, Executive JEEP or Executive Nissan in North Haven.
