How to Properly Check Your Coolant Level

It is equally important to check your car's coolant pH level as well as how to check its physical level. Checking your coolant level at the expansion tank, or overflow tank as it is sometimes called, is a good habit, but can be misleading should a coolant leak or other defect in the system actually occur. If the cooling system is unable to draw coolant back from the expansion tank for whatever reason, you could easily end up with a full expansion tank and an empty radiator and worst of all, an over-heated vehicle. To avoid this situation, check your radiator's coolant level regularly. Once every couple of months on a newer vehicle and more often on an older car, perhaps once every other time you refuel. Checking your radiator's coolant level is especially important with older cars as your chance of cooling system leakage increases with age. Check the level in the radiator itself only when the engine is cold to avoid being scalded by hot coolant.

I've had many a customer call with over-heating problems who though they were checking the coolant level by checking the expansion tank level. Upon inspection, their radiator turned out to be critically low while their expansion tank was full. Over-heating a car's engine causes major stress on gaskets and precision tolerances associated with bearings and rings and can warp critical surfaces, causing damage that may or may not be immediately apparent. If the temperature gauge goes up out of its normal range or the temperature light comes on, the car should be shut off right immediately. One to five minutes of extreme temperature will damage a motor and anything longer may destroy it completely. I've never known a customer who preferred the thousands of dollars of a new engine or head gasket over the inconvenience of stopping short of their destination. Watch those gauges people!

When the first sign hot weather has arrived, it is time to make sure your car's cooling system is ready for its primary job of keeping your engine's temperature in check. In winter, its concern was less for over-heating and more for freezing. Hence the name "anti-freeze." The single most important thing you can do to maintain your cooling system's health is to properly check your coolant level once a month. A proper check begins with a cold engine, ideally before the car has been driven for the day. This will give you a more accurate reading and eliminates the risk of being scalded by hot coolant. To perform the check, simply raise your car's hood, remove the radiator cap and look for coolant inside the radiator. You should see coolant within one inch of the opening. If you don't see any coolant, add some and consider having your system pressure-checked. Green drips under your car may indicate a leak though clear drips may simply be condensation from your air conditioner. The key point is that your expansion tank is not a reliable indicator of coolant level.

The second most important things you can do are to have your coolant's pH level checked ever six months and have your system flushed every twelve months. Improper coolant pH can wreak havoc with today's aluminum engines as the chemical imbalance will create an electrolysis effect just like inside a battery. Stop by Tom Dwyer Automotive for a free coolant pH test.