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In some countries they just use normal water (or distilled water ;)). Anti freeze is only needed in countries that have climates which seasonally go below 0c ;)

In general the more anti freeze you add the lower the temperature it will not freeze...

But obviously the heat absorption of anti freeze chemical is different to that of water... so not necessarily a good idea to use purely anti freeze and nothing else!

PS: The consequence of not having anti freeze in your coolant and it freezing means your engine will quite possibly split... quite literally.
 
andi said:
He didn't say it had no coolant, he said it had no antifreeze. You'd notice if it didn't have any coolant, but having no anti freeze, just water in is a bit harder to spot.
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not really, antifreeze has an obvious colour. Red, blue, or green, if it's brown then its full of rusty crap, flush it and replace the radiator.

Begbie said:
I normally make sure it tastes sweet, but you can get tester things am sure.
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Sure can, useful they are too. I wouldn't go putting coolant in your mouth it almost certainly is bad for your health.

Mohinder said:
Coolant change

ho ho ho
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Indeed, it hardly takes a long time.
 
.. I dont think my car has had antifreeze in the expansion chamber for the last 2 years since it decided to drink all its coolant and i just replaced it with water..

maybe I should rectify this?
 
You need to get some G4 additive from VW and add that to the system with the required amount of water (after draining it of course).

The Expansion tank has a level switch which should illuminate the temp light on the dash, should you have a low coolant level. You should check to see whether this is working. :)
 
Not enough antifreeze normally causes the engine to overheat in cold weather rather than the block to pop.

What happens is that the hoses freeze solid (less thermal mass than the block) , no water flows round the engine so overheat city :)



*obviously it can still kill the engine :D
 
this forum does amuse me sometimes, Panic stations!11 You've no anti-freeze!!!

from the sound of things the chaps car has just been filled up with water by his mate (not a big problem..) all you need to do is find out the dilution ratio of the antifreeze and then find out how much water your rad holds.. do the math stick the appropriate amount in the header tank and job done.
 
Drain system.
Fill with half the capacity of the system of un-duluted coolant.
Top up to the fill mark with water.
Run engine for a bit.
Replace cap.
Check and top up with water soon after.


Tomsk said:
Aren't there two main types of anti-freeze?
IIRC They shouldn't be mixed.
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Green/blue and Pink/purple = jelly.
 
Clarkey said:
not really, antifreeze has an obvious colour. Red, blue, or green, if it's brown then its full of rusty crap, flush it and replace the radiator.
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Yeah, but you need to see the coolant to see if its got any anti freeze in, my point was if he had no coolant, he'd know without even lifting the bonnet, what with the overheating engine and all.. :p
 
Remember kids, not only do you need anti-freeze to stop your cooling system freezing but it also stops your engine corroding!
 
[TW]Fox;12795682 said:
Most people use the terms interchangably. I doubt this 'mate' glanced at the expansion tank and said 'I say old bean, the concentration of water to antifreeze looks a bit awry! Best get that sorted pronto'
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Few people can judge antifreeze concentration visually :D Perhaps he actually tested it using a hydrometer?
 
jegz said:
Remember kids, not only do you need anti-freeze to stop your cooling system freezing but it also stops your engine corroding!
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It also raises the boiling point of the coolant, acts as a lubricant for the water pump and has sound dampening qualities.
 
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