Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Can you tell if engine coolant is old, but not used much?

In a 2006 car with 12K miles, how would you tell if the coolant had not been changed? Doesn't the coolant need to be changed every three years regardless of if it is driven a certain number of miles?Can you tell if engine coolant is old, but not used much?you should not just change it.



Check the Owner's Manual for the coolant change interval



A 2006 car may have super long life coolant which is meant to last 100,000miles/8years.

If you get it changed at a cheap quick lube,

they may use the entirely wrong coolant which means chemical interactions and gooey chunks in your coolant. Or even if they change it correctly, most likely they will use a regular life coolant which is worse than your 3yearold superlong life coolant.



The always change in 3year interval is not an accurate statement for coolant (maybe for brake fluid this rule of thumb still holds true).Can you tell if engine coolant is old, but not used much?Well if it looks gummed up... I would change it. You can have it changed at most quick oil change shops for about $60. just to be safe.



Sorry to say not all coolants are good for 100k miles even if they claim to be all that. GM's pink coolant is not everything they claimed it would be. I got rid of it in my car ar 30k miles. It was gumming up. Change it, if it makes you feel better. Making you feel better is all that really matters.Can you tell if engine coolant is old, but not used much?Depending on the car and what kind of coolant is used in it if it seems to be a darker less translucent color it might need to be changed. However if your car isn't at a higher temperature than usual and you don't live in a colder area I wouldn't worry about it too much,Can you tell if engine coolant is old, but not used much?1 local auto prts store may have a test kit

2 you can observe a lot,,,,by looking,,,is it dirty? foamy? brown? bits of rubber hose floating in it?



why not just change it? if its from 2006 its time anyway..Can you tell if engine coolant is old, but not used much?The darker it is, the older it is.



Coolant should be a Lime green color.



You should change it every two to three years or 30k miles.Can you tell if engine coolant is old, but not used much?Well I mean its cheap to change it. If your worried just change it. Coolant should last a while if there isn't any leaks or oil getting into the system.Can you tell if engine coolant is old, but not used much?Almost all newer cars are using a 5 year coolant.Can you tell if engine coolant is old, but not used much?the coolant serves multiple purposes: anti-rust chemicals to prevent rusting of your aluminum radiator and engine components, higher boiling point to cool your engine without the fluid boiling over (in the case if it's 100% water, as opposed to 50/50 coolant/water), prevent the fluid from freezing at temperatures where water would freeze.



if the owner's manual says to flush the coolant every 3 years, then you should do it. if you don't do it, your engine won't explode, it just won't be at it's optimal shape.