Checking Your Car's Cooling System
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Regular inspection of a vehicles cooling system is a task which can be performed by anyone, even those not experts in the field of automotive. This inspection is very important especially during spring season when cars easily experience overheating due to poorly maintained cooling system.
Unfortunately most owners deal with their cooling system problem when it is already severe.
Car owners are advised to make sure there is enough coolant or antifreeze in the system. Inspecting the level of coolant or antifreeze is made easy with many recent model cars having semi-transparent plastic coolant reservoirs.
Auto mobile experts say a vehicle must also have 50:50 antifreeze or coolant and water mixture.
The span of the coolant mixture is as important as ratio of the mixture. This is because the coolant contains corrosion inhibitors which are vital to the engines life.
Rust, scale and acid formation are results of failure to keep fresh coolant in the system. Occasionally, this can also result in over heating and engine damage. Replacing the coolant can help prevent this.
Thirty thousand miles or 24 months is the typical coolant replacement interval for many vehicles. But some newer more refined cars with extended-life coolant can go 100,000 miles or more.
Before, automated repair shops suggest opening the radiator petcock valve and removing the lower radiator hose to drain the fluid into a catch pan for later reclamation. However, in this era with advanced technology, this procedure gives rise to a few problems. First is that the old fluid is being trapped in hoses, in the heater core and in the engine block. In rare cases, majority of the fluid is held only to be mixed with the fresh coolant. This contamination severely diminishes the new coolant or antifreezes efficiency, quality and corrosion inhibitor longevity.
Another thing is that any rust or scale deposits in the radiator, heater core or engine remain after the drain and refill. This results to a blockage. This blockage further diminishes the cooling systems efficiency and increases the chances of excessive heating.
Lastly, the proper disposition of old coolant captures all of the old ones, including that which was flushed from the system with water, and delivering it to a recycling center.
Volkswagen, maker of quality VW fan, offers performance quality cooling system that does not easily breaks down even during very hot weather. Nonetheless, maintenance must also be done to extend its longevity.
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