Why Do I Need Antifreeze?
It may sound like a Batman villain, but Antifreeze is actually an essential ingredient for the safe running of your vehicle.
You may be thinking, "I don't live in Antarctica, Siberia or Invercargill, it never freezes here, so why do I need antifreeze?!" Good question.
Antifreeze is to your engine what spinach is to Popeye. It's a clever additive that we add to the water in your radiator to make it far more mighty than water alone. Here's what it does:
- Antifreeze reduces the temperature at which your coolant water freezes. This means your car can still be driven to work on cold winter mornings when you'd rather be in bed. When water freezes it also expands which would wreck your radiator so it's important we stop that from happening.
- Antifreeze raises the boiling point of your coolant giving it a greater ability to protect your engine from overheating, especially on hot summer days when your ice cream melts all over your hands.
- But wait, there's more! Antifreeze also protects against electrolysis and corrosion, so your radiator is less likely to spring a leak.
- It even turns your radiator water a funky green colour, just like spinach!
The good news is that you don't need to replace your antifreeze too often. We'll check it for you when we service your vehicle and replace all the coolant water and antifreeze if need be.
If your radiator system tends to lose a bit of water and you have to top it up regularly, this will of course dilute the antifreeze over time so you'll need to replace it more often.
Share this page:
