When cold weather approaches, it’s time to give your car a once-over to make sure it’s fully prepared for the drop in temperature.
With all of the external features that need to be checked, such as the lights, windshield wipers, and tires, it’s easy to forget to make sure your cars cooling system is topped off and running properly.
Not using the right coolant or the correct proportion of antifreeze can easily lead to serious engine issues.
So what is antifreeze and how can we use it properly to protect our cars?
Continue reading to know everything about this viscous fluid that offers much-needed protection to the insides of your car.
A glycol-based fluid made primarily from ethylene glycol or propylene glycol, antifreeze is one of the components of the fluid used in the cooling system of your car.
Ethylene glycol replaced glycerol as the mainstream antifreeze around 1926, and had it not been for its extremely toxic nature, it would still be the undefeated champion.
But after the sweet-smelling and tasting liquid was implicated in dangerous and often fatal toxicity in pets and children, manufacturers have started offering a less toxic alternative in the form of propylene glycol-based antifreeze solutions.
Apart from glycol, antifreeze mixes also have pH buffers that maintain the alkalinity of the solution and anti-corrosive compounds that prevent the degradation of the metallic components of the cooling system.
