What is the coolant fluid?

Question

I've just bought a renault laguna, and I want to top up the coolant, but I'm not sure what it is. I used to use just plain water on my old citroen AX, is that ok?

Oh, and the AX died of overheating. Is that likely because I used pure water?

thanks cuov, for that answer which was in no way related to the question....what is coolant?

Do I just go to Halfords and say "I'd like some coolant" or is it antifreeze mixed with water or what?

Answer 1

Plain water oxides under heat and has a low boiling point even under pressure. Coolant has a higher boiling poil, has enhancers to help with heat transfer, lubricant for the pump bearings and rotor, and helps prevent oxidation and rust. Coolant contains water, alcohol (poisonous), and additives.
Water in case of emergencies but coolant is the wat to go for planned maintenance.

Answer 2

WIKIPEDIA DEFINITIONS COOLANT FLUID A coolant, or heat transfer fluid, is a fluid which flows through a device in order to prevent its overheating, transferring the heat produced by the device to other devices that utilize or dissipate it. An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, is low-cost, and is chemically inert, neither causing nor promoting corrosion of the cooling system. Some applications also require the coolant to be an electrical insulator. The coolant can either keep its phase and stay liquid or gaseous, or can undergo a phase change, with the latent heat adding to the cooling efficiency. The latter, when used to achieve low temperatures, is more commonly known as refrigerant. ANTIFREEZE Antifreeze is a water-based liquid coolant used in gasoline and diesel engines. Compounds are added to the water to reduce the freezing point of the mixture to below the lowest temperature that the engine is likely to be exposed to, and to inhibit corrosion in cooling systems which often contain a range of electrochemically incompatible metals (aluminum, cast iron, copper, lead solder, etc.). The term 'colligative agent' is to be preferred as, in warm climates, the benefit of these compounds is to increase the boiling point of the coolant, which should then be more properly referred to as 'anti-boil', and as anti-freeze decreases and increases both properties, respectively, 'colligative agent' more accurately describes the liquid. The term 'engine coolant' is widely used in industry. Putting in the water was to tide you over for the time being. Now you have to find out where the leak is. What you do is raise the hood and see if you can see any water leaks. The reason is if you take it to a shop you tell them that your car is losing water and what would it take to fix it. Now if you know where the problem is, you will know if the mechanic is honest or not. Places where they see a female, he may overstate so you can overpay. If you just had a hose with a hole in it, he may tell you the radiator or water pump went out. He may even actually do the real work or just replace your hose and charge you for what it cost for a radiator or water pump. If you do take it to a shop, take it to at least three shops. if the first two shops say it is a hose, then at the third you say how much to replace your hose. Then if it Just a little bit higher then play the man and said garage X would do it for the price they said. Quote it 10% cheaper though. Maybe the guy will match or beat the price. Good luck.

Answer 3

Coolant Fluid

Answer 4

Most vehicles do fine on a mix of 50% water and 50% anti freez (coolant). You hear a lot of stories but it does not lubricate the water pump. The water pump uses a mechanical seal and a sealed bearing which require no lube. It does raise the boiling point slightly but not much. Tha radiator cap is a pressure cap, proly about 15 # pressure, water under pressure has a much higher boiling point thus your engine can get a little hotter before it overheats. The main purpose of the anti freez (coolant) is to keep your car heater core from freezing when the a/c is on in the summer. The a/c evaporator is located in the heater core. You may need a richer coolant mixture if you live in extreme cold. Water is fine for topping off. If you keep the overflow reservoir at proper level it will keep your radiator full automatically. If you go to auto supply you can buy a small coolant tester that will tell you how much anti freez is in your system.

Answer 5

coolant and antifreeze are the same thing. Go to an auto parts store, or the auto section of a retail store and get coolant. The book for the car in your glove compatment will say what percentage of water & coolant goes into the cooling system.

It may be better for you to take the car to a mechanic shop and ask them to add colant to the car. If you want to learn more about it, ask the mechanic or counter person. It's never too late to learn about the car that gets you around. Eventually having learned more, some knowledge of cars can help immensely in any situation.

The biggest reason why you use coolant is for its ability to keep the engine's cooling system from freezing solid.

Freezing water expands, and that expansion is not much but extremely powerful. I have seen large industrial water pumps that were made of cast iron and steel - broken in half from water that had frozen inside. Your engine block is likely made of cast iron or aluminum. There are paths for the water/coolant to travel through your engine block. If water with no antifreeze (coolant) were in the cengine block and the temperature was low enough (dosen't need to be far below 0 deg. celsius) for long enough... your engine block could crack from the pressure. If that dosen't crack, the radiator might have, beforehand.

Answer 6

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you need to go and buy a premix anitifreeze. That way there is no second guessing if you have enought antifreeze. coolant fluid and antifreeze are pretty much the same thing. Don't just put water in because that will mess up your mixture. You want to have about a half water half antifreeze mix. If you buy a jug of premix it is already mixed with the proper ratio of water and antifreeze all you have to do is pour away and fill up your radiator and/or coolant reservoir.

Answer 7

Coolant should be free of "silica" which is actually sand. Water has sand in it.

Coolant will not freeze. It is best to use the proper coolant. The problem with used cars is that you have no idea when the coolant was changed last and if it was done correctly.

Answer 8

yes the plain water could have helped it to die a little earlier,coolant is a mix of glycerol and water with other chemicals it fights heat as well as severe cold,it usually wont boil over and wont freeze if mixed right ,and it helps stop rust that forms in any engine,that could be what killed your other engine,,id make sure i had a good 50/50 mix in this one,good luck with it.