Check Your Antifreeze!

[welshpug 1,680]

not immediately, but if not remedied or bypassed it could cause engine damage.

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

From another forum:

 

Antifreeze does wear out from both use and Time.. Use in Extreme conditions will cause its properties to degrade from the heating of the chemicals. and Time well over time as you proably know (seeing how you posted the volt meter test) antifreeze gains electric properties over time, and its that which causes it to eat away at metal, if its been 3 - 5 years of sitting changing is a good idea, looks like you changed it with prestone, well hope that helps answer your true question...

 

Also, the reason why it has a shelf life of so long Un-mixed, is because it takes water to activate the anti-corrosive chemicals inside the antifreeze as well as other chemicals.. once those properties are activated it begins to slowly over time gain an electric charge.

 

So it does seem you change it due to the corrosion inhibitor as opposed to the "anti-freezeness" going off. Sounds like a job to do when it is warmer and nothing to panic about now!

[pug_ham 245 3 Cars]

Does antifreeze go off over time and lose its properties? I am just wondering as I have had my 307 for years and it has never used a drop of water despite repeated checking.

Yes, at least I assume thats why you ar supposed to replac it every two years bcause it becoms contaminated with dirt & poolutants.

 

Do you need to do like Graham did and drain some to replace with antifreeze

I only did this as my proper tester got broke last year & changing it is on the list.

 

I'll dig my bluecol pipette tester I have somewhere & see how the ball sits in the tube.

 

Graham.

[dcc 855]

I once forgot to put the cap back on my old mi16 just after I had built the engine, it fried my sterio! funnily though, the car only lost about a pint of water over a 2 minute 'spirited' drive!

[woodsy 0]

On the topic of antifreeze i have 2 customers cars in work at moment, a rover 25 and a pug 206 both the waterpumps seized and shredded cambelts due to lack of antifreeze.