Antifreeze for our car

Antifreeze is the liquid responsible for keeping our car's engine running. optimum operating temperature preventing it from overheating. To achieve this task, the antifreeze circulates through a circuit in which the radiator, the thermostat, the water pump or the expansion bottle, among others, are also found.

When buying antifreeze we can find a wide variety of liquids, without knowing very well which one we can put in our car. Most of the time we will find pink and green antifreeze, although there may be more colors.

Currently, the most widespread are organic and also the G12, especially indicated for vehicles of the VAG group due to its high anticorrosive power and also for its long duration. Mainly, antifreeze is composed of ethylene glycol and distilled water. To this we must add the dye, which is very helpful when we have a fluid leak.

Depending on the engine of our car, we will need a specific type of antifreeze or another. Normally, most of the antifreezes can be found from temperatures from -20ºC in freezing up to 140ºC in boiling.

In terms of durability, after two years the properties of the liquid begin to decline, so it may be a good time to replace the antifreeze. On most current vehicles durability can be around four or five years, which is the recommended time for replacement.

If we talk about the mixture of types of antifreeze, then in principle not recommended, since we lose many of the properties of the types of antifreeze when they are mixed with each other, although in extreme cases we could get to mix them, better that way than circulating without liquid.

Finally we must talk about the price, a bottle of antifreeze can be found for just five euros, up to 20. If we decide to change the liquid in the workshop, This maintenance operation can cost us 35 or 40 euros, so it is a very good option to consider. In case of change it at home, we cannot forget about purge the cooling circuit.

More information - My car gets hot, The car leaks antifreeze, what do I do?, How to change the antifreeze of our car, How to bleed antifreeze from the cooling circuit