How Often Should I Change Engine Coolant

Some would say that change of engine coolant must happen more frequently than what is recommended on your maintenance schedule, they claim that it is best to perform every thirty thousand or fifty thousand miles, but just to make sure you are doing it right and on time, ask a professional or check on your car’s manual. Even if you are using the best car engine oil, if you are not changing your coolant, the life of your vehicle will still not be maximized.

You must know that coolant is an important part of your vehicle’s life. You are using your vehicle everyday, hence exposing it to intense heat. Before starting, below are some of the terms you must know about this activity.

• Radiator

Coolant works directly with your car’s radiator. There is no rocket science to explain how the radiator works, hence you will not have a hard time understanding why radiator is valuable to a car. The radiator is tasked to cool a hot coolant down before fluid returns back to the engine and get heated again.

• Radiator fluid

Do not get confused as radiator fluid is actually the same as the coolant. The radiator’s function is to avoid the vehicle from overheating, and this is possible as coolant removes the heat from the engine. So, to explain it in a simple term, coolant is the radiator’s fluid.

• Radiator Flush

To rephrase to layman’s term, it means replacing the coolant. This is performed to ensure that metal parts are free from corrosion due to antifreeze.

• Cooling system

It is not only the radiator that makes the cooling system of the car, it also includes the thermostat, the pump and passageway from and to the engine.

Replacing coolant

So, here are the easy steps to follow when changing coolant:

• Refer to your car’s manual

Read your manual. This is where you can find all the information that you need to know about this project, like the capacity of your car, how often to change coolant and more. You can get tips from professionals, but needless to say, there is nothing better than reading your manual first.

• Park your car

It is highly recommended that you park your car on a flat surface. Lift it a bit to ensure that old coolant is completely emptied. A container must be placed under the radiator so old coolant will be collected neatly.

• Empty your car’s radiator tank

The tank is most of the time made of plastic or metal placed near the engine. Keep your container under the tank to ensure that all fluids are completely caught. Open the valve as you empty the tank. Once emptied, you can put the valve back as you replace your tank with a fresh coolant.

Make sure that it is completely filled up before closing. Now, you are ready to go!

The steps to follow are just easy, but if you still prefer to call professionals to do the job for you, you can go ahead and do that. This task must be done accurately to avoid your car from overheating, hence if you are not comfortable that you can do the job right, then might as well hire someone who can do it accurately for you.

If you want to make sure that the cooling system of your car will work best all the time, change your coolant regularly and use the best coolant for cars available in the market. There are many options in the market, hence it is only necessary that you do your homework when choosing a coolant to use for your car.

Arundhati Kher is an experienced architecture expert and certified financial planner. She writes for several online publications, including her own blog, finance, health & fitness, online shopping, fashion, telecom, automotive and parenting.