Any time is a good time to test your coolant but most important is when winter months are approaching. I know that there are many other articles on how to check your engines coolant for the proper mixture. I am not saying that any of these methods are incorrect.
I am going to discuss a method in this article, which I find to be the most accurate method possible. The problem with some of the other methods such as the floating ball method is that there are many different kinds of coolants out there. This means that you have to have the exact tester for those coolants to make the gauge read accurately. Sometimes you may also be unsure what type of coolant is in the vehicle, and you then don’t know what tester to use. This can also lead to using an incorrect tester and getting incorrect reading that either say your coolant is the correct mixture when it is not, or else saying it needs more antifreeze when it does not.
The method this article is going to focus on is using a refractometer. A refractometer, such as this ATD3705 Coolant Refractometer or Robinair 75240 I have found to be the most versatile, accurate and economical way of checking cooling systems.
The Procedure
- The first step is to remove your radiator cap on your vehicle. IT IS VITAL THAT YOU DO THIS ON A COLD ENGINE TO PREVENT BEING SCALDED BY BOILING COOLANT.
- Next you will want to open up your refractometer kit. This ATD3705 Coolant Refractometer comes with everything you will need. In your kit you should have a little vial of distilled water. Locate this.
- Open this vial of water. Place a drop on the lense of the refractometer.
- Then look through the refractometer. You should look at your instructions for what the drop should read as far as degrees and how to adjust your refractometer to calibrate it.
- With your refractometer calibrated, take a clean soft cloth and wipe away any water on the lense.
- Next use the little dropper and suck up some coolant into the dropper.
- Place a couple drops onto the lense of the refractometer.
- Then look through the refractometer. You should see a scale and some lines this will show you the degrees F and C that your coolant is good for.
- You will want your coolant to be good till at least -20 degrees F. If you are in a colder environment you may want it to be good to at least -30 degrees F.
- If your coolant is either too cold or to hot you will need to adjust your mixture.
- If your coolant is too cold of a rating then you will want to drain some coolant and then add straight water. Retest and check until you get it to the desired range.
- With coolant that is too warm of a rating you will want to drain and add just straight anti freeze. Retest and check until you get it to the desired temperature rating.
You just finished testing your coolant in your engine.
This method is probably the most accurate and versatile methods of testing coolant. It will work for any type of coolant and has a nice graph that shows you exactly what your coolant is rated for.
Written by: Cody Mammenga an NDSCS Student
Tags: antifreeze, ATD, coolant, cooling, how to test coolant, radiator, refractometer, robinair 75240, robinair refractometer
