What kind of coolant really belongs in your car? Engine antifreeze does breakdown over time, forming corrosive organic degradation products. Hence the importance of proper cooling system maintenance (coolant flushing). As with anything automotive, proper maintenance is key to longevity. Coolant in your automobile’s engine cooling system must do three things:

• Carry heat to radiator • Prevent from freezing • Protect against corrosion

 

Glycol based coolants on the market today can handle the first two tasks almost indefinitely, but corrosion protection relies on chemicals in the coolant that are eventually consumed over time as they do their job. Protecting your vehicle from internal corrosion has always been a chemical balancing act, with so many differnet types of coolant to choose from, it’s getting easy to accidentlly confuse the different types and then use the wrong type that your application was designed to use. Questions on what type to use? Call our team today.

What Are The Different Types Of Coolant Or Antifreeze?

While there are minor differences, three different types of coolany are available today. Including (IAT) Inorganic Additive Technology, (OAT) Organic Additive Technology, (HOAT) Hybrid Organic Additive Technology. Which one is correct for your application? What does your car prefer?

Different Colors Of Coolant

Engine coolants (antifreeze) are actually clear at one point. Dye’s are added by the coolant manufacturer to give the stuff its color.  Different manufacturers use different color dye’s in their product and there are also several different chemical formulatons (Ethyl-Glycol, Dex-Cool, G12) all of which can come in a variety of colors. Ethyl-Glycol for example people often think is green yet Toyota uses this coolant with a red dye and Ford with yellow as do some aftermarket coolant manufacturers. Have any questions?

But anyways the main colors of coolant coming out then going back into vehicles at our shop is Green, Red, Plus Yellow. Now a little more rare but still pretty common are the Pink and Blue colors. Regardless were here for all of your coolant service needs.

Now there is few different types, colors, brands of coolant made for automobiles and to some extent, each will work in any cooling system, but each has been made to meet car manufacturers’ specific needs. If proper maintenance schedule is not followed properly including not using proper coolant voiding of warranty may occur. Filling a vehicle that was designed for one type of coolant with another type can sometimes cause problems.

What Are The Differences Between Coolants?

The IAT coolants as mentioned above which also have been around forever contain silicates that form a protective barrier on everything in your cooling system, including rubber hoses. The newer OAT type coolants as also mentioned above work differently. Aluminum and ferrous metals form a layer of corrosion in the presence of moisture, even a little bit of moisture in the air. Oat coolants anneal this metal oxide layer into a thin surface coating that protects against further corrosion. With either type of inhibitor, there must be enough in the coolant to occasionally re-establish the barrier as needed. Hence the importance of proper cooling system maintenance, coolant flushing, preventive maintenance. Hence Last Chance Auto Repair is here to handle all of your cooling system needs which you know includes coolant flushing.