What Is Car Coolant and Why Do I Need to Check It?

When you buy a car, you make a huge investment in that vehicle. Keeping it well-protected and ensuring it stays maintained helps to keep your investment intact and keep your car running for a good while. One of the essential elements to ensuring your car stays running is coolant and also antifreeze.

Coolant works to keep your engine from overheating and runs throughout your engine’s cooling system, while antifreeze is used in colder climates to make sure nothing freezes in winter temperatures. If you are low on coolant, then it can do damage to your car’s radiator as well as other parts of the engine. Learn about coolant and why you need to make sure you always have the right level in your car.

Failing to inspect coolant could cause you to break down.

If your car overheats while you are driving, you may end up breaking down on the side of the road as your engine overheats. It is recommended that you should check your coolant levels routinely to make sure that you have the correct level at all times. Make sure, though, that you do not check these levels while your engine is hot. That can result in hot liquid spraying out and causing burns. Coolant or antifreeze is either green or red depending on the type you use, and the level should fall right in between the low and high marks on the coolant tank.

Your safety while operating your car is paramount and breaking down on the side of the road can be hazardous, especially on the side of the interstate or highway.

Keeping proper coolant levels could prevent more costly damage to your vehicle.

Without checking your coolant routinely, you will not know when your levels are low and you could potentially be operating your car without the correct amount. This could cause your car to break down or can cause damage to the entire cooling system of the vehicle. Replacing a radiator is much more expensive than adding in coolant periodically to keep your engine cool. If you have to refill the coolant too often, that could be a sign of a potential leak in the system. In cases of a suspected leak, whether it is internal or external, you should take your car to a mechanic as soon as possible so they can check out the issue. A leak in the cooling system means that you are losing coolant and your engine is suffering in the process.

You should always keep up the routine maintenance of your vehicle.

Along with checking coolant levels, you should also ensure that you keep up with the routine maintenance of your vehicle. Adhere to oil change protocols, follow the schedule for mileage maintenance, and make sure that your brakes are maintained. Following these recommendations that are outlined in your car’s owner’s manual can help prevent more expensive repairs or the need to replace your car completely with a brand new car. If you have a cheap car insurance policy right now, that could end up increasing your monthly premium costs and offset any discount you may be getting with your current policy.

Compare your car insurance policy to other available options.

Another part of caring for your car is to make sure you have the best available car insurance rate. If you are paying a high amount per month, then there is less in your monthly budget to allocate toward maintaining your car. Top insurance companies in your area can provide you with free quotes and an insurance agent can help you decide on the best auto policy for your car and for your budget.