What you need to know about antifreeze coolants
Car in ice courtesy of crazy-frankenstein.com
Antifreeze coolant is one of the most vital fluids in your car's operation, since it protects the engine from corrosion, from boiling or freezing temperatures, and helps transfer heat from the engine to the radiator. There are several varieties of coolant on the market, and since each type contains different chemicals, mixing coolants can create chemical reactions which are dangerous to both your car and you.
While water could potentially serve the purpose of heat transferring, most coolants only contain 2-4 percent water, which is subject to freezing and boiling. The main ingredient of coolant is glycol; usually, ethylene glycol, and the rest are additives which protect your car's inner workings against corrosion, rust, and pitting caused by air bubbles imploding in the cooling system.
The most common types of coolants are either green or orange in color, for conventional and extended-life coolants, respectively. Green coolants usually use borates, silicates, and phosphates as additives to prevent corrosion, and orange coolants contain organic acids for the same purpose. Combining the two can create a precipitation reaction, which means that the additives in the green coolants change from a liquid state to a solid state, and collect as residue in the engine. This in turn means that these additives are no longer protecting your car from corrosion, and you risk engine damage. To further complicate matters, some manufacturers, like Saturn, use green as the color for their extended-life coolants, so if you are unsure as to which coolant is currently in your car, don't try to guess just based on the color.
You may also encounter red, blue, or yellow coolants, which are usually newer, more environmentally friendly coolants made by car manufacturers. While these coolants are intended to last 100,000 miles, they can start to decompose, causing radiator problems, if they are not replaced more often.
Fortunately, if it's time to replace your coolant, and you can't recall what brand you were using, there are options. You can flush your coolant system and replace your antifreeze entirely, or you can add universal antifreeze. Universal antifreeze comes in several brands, including Peak and Prestone, and does not interact harmfully when mixed with other types of coolant.
—Seth Berger
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