The automobile cooling system is a major factor in engine performance, emissions and fuel economy. The cooling system also helps protect very expensive components from failing. This has become serious business for vehicle manufactures. The fluid used in cooling systems is called Anti-freeze. Anti-freeze comes in many colors and each color has a specific property specified by the manufacturers. Be very careful with the one: “anti-freeze works on all”. This may void warranty or cause unwanted damage to your vehicle. Always make sure the anti-freeze being installed in vehicles meets manufacturers’ specifications.
Following the manufactures recommendation for coolant system service is crucial to keeping this system at peak performance to protect the engine from major failures due to coolant system failure. Making sure the coolant is mixed correctly to achieve a minus twenty-five degrees (-3°C) to a minus fifty degrees (-5° C) is very desirable. The coolant system uses pressure to increase the coolants ability to cool. By increasing cooling system pressure the boiling point of coolant is raised above the boiling point of water. The average cooling system today uses a fifteen-PSI coolant system pressure cap. This pressure of fifteen PSI (103.4 KPA) will raise the boiling point of coolant by three degrees for each PSI (KPA), this results in a boiling point of two-hundred and sixty-five degrees (129.5°C). When the coolant system is set to these specifications and can properly maintain engine temperature under all driving conditions.
Another factor that can affect the vehicles coolant system is electricity. When a coolant system becomes “charged” by the vehicles electrical system over time, it can affect Computer control system sensors. The vehicles computer control system works on five volts circuits. When coolant is charged with electricity it can cause these sensors to send false voltages back to the computer system. These false voltages can cause the computer system to send out wrong commands to certain computer outputs. As little as half a volt in coolant can shift sensor reading by five percent (5%).
A simple example would be a coolant temperature sensor. This sensor supplies coolant temperature to the vehicles computer system. The computer system uses this information to make many decisions. One of the outputs which is affected by this sensor is the fuel injectors. The fuel injector is turned on and off by the computer system, this on and off period is based on many computer sensor inputs. One of these inputs is the coolant temperature sensor. If this sensor was off by five percent (5%) it would make the fuel injector on and off time be off by five percent (5%). This could add up to a lot of wasted fuel and money!
The coolant system is a very important part of the vehicles ability to perform. Make sure the system is maintained to insure peak performance. Have the coolant system check for voltage level at least once a year by a technician. The protection level may be adequate but the voltage level found by the technician may not be acceptable for computer operation.