greetings,
i know that there is a battery "tester" for "service-able" batteries that aren't sealed. however, is there a antifreeze/coolant tester to test for quality of the coolant?

the battery testers look like a turkey baster utensil of sorts and i think i remember seeing similar for coolant. anyone know?...

...ok, so as we don't clog up this thread, i DON"T need to hear about time duration or miles to change out coolant as that is not what this thread is about. .

...last question, where is a typical place to buy distilled water as i surely don't want to use city water with it's high mineral or iron content in my radiator?...gallon costs?..gallon capacity in a STOCK RADIATOR in an 88?

 

Yeah, I use one like this and I get Distilled water at the grocery store @ $.70/gallon,

 

....thanks for the reply..yeah, that is what i thought i saw. i have a couple if these burried in the garage but, can't remember if they are for battery or coolant....thanks for the reply.

 

They are, my gauge says FREEZE Point on one side and BOIL INGpoint on the other

I have a Dewitts / rad so I cant help with the gallons

 

I get my distilled water at Walmart.

There is also a tech. tip for checking the antifreeze with a voltmeter.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/techti...=170&TopicID=5

Tech Tips >> Cross Generation Tech Tips >> Keeping Coolant and Radiator free of corrosion


Tech Tip

Keeping Coolant and Radiator free of corrosion -- 1 of 1
Date Published: 2002-06-22

Submitter's Name: Rick MacGregor
Email Address: rmacgregor@erols.com
Corvetteforum.com Member Alias: Streetrod

While I think that we all pretty much understand the make up/qualities of antifreeze or coolant it is more important than ever to be able to judge the condition of that liquid in our cooling systems. Scale and deposits can eat away at our metal parts especially aluminum. How can we, inexpensively monitor the condition of our coolant I'd always wondered until I saw this neat tip that I thought I'd share. Whether it is Green, Red, blue or some other color you can easily check it without anything more than digital volt-ohmeter. Simply attach the positive lead to the metal part of the radiator(I wedge it carefully into the fins to hold it) and the negative probe into the coolant itself. A voltage reading of .2 volts is considered good and a reading of .5 volts should be considered marginal. If you are above .7 volts your coolant has failed and you should flush and clean your system right away! This works surprising well and is so easy to do. I'm not completely comfortable with some of the 5 year claims about coolant life and am changing the coolant utilizing this method without worry as there is no guesswork. Try it! Streetrod

 

...huh?...i don't understand your comment . having not seen any of the "devices" at my home, how can you say that "they are"?...i am gonna look in a few minutes but, if i recall correctly, i think i have only a battery tester and not coolant and even if i had 2 "testers" i believe that they are for a "dedicated" use....thanks for the reply...

 

...i thought i remembered seeing something about what ya wrote but, was not sure. however, i think i may just stick with the "tester" method for now....gotta dig out my helms and look for capacities for the stock radiator.....thanks for the reply.

 

There is the turkey baster style and the style LD85 pictured. I believe
that both report specific gravity of the fluid being tested - you read
the scale to determine the freezing point of the tested coolant.

There is another optical style that measures the refractive index of the
fluid to determine its concentration.

However, neither on these types of instruments will report on the
'quality' of the fluid or how much life it has.

For coolant, one test for condition is to measure how much voltage is
present. Use a DMM - place the (+) in the coolant in the radiator and
ground the (-) terminal to the negative terminal of the battery.

A reading above 0.3-0.5 VDC is considered a threat indicating electrolysis.

There are some links to further reading in this post

.

 

.......i just checked my garage and determined that i have both the turkey baster and "curved" type BOTH for and only for the battery...i will head out tomorrow morning and snag a coolant tester as well as a few gallons of distilled water...ok, thanks everyone for your input as i have ALL the info i currently need and require no further information...thanks again..

 

Mine is a Prestone coolant tester, not a battery tester, just like the pic above

 

......

 

An anti-freeze tester is called a hygrometer and you can find one at any auto parts store for a couple bucks. As someone mentioned, it doesn't test for the quality of your anti-freeze, it only tests the water/AF mixture.

It's an excellent way to tell if you have the proper mix so you know whether or not you have the right freezing/boil over protection. I get distilled water all the time for my humidor from the supermarket.

 

I have a hard time swallowing this one.

If they were talking about resistance, I might accept it....but voltage???!!!!! My limited knowledge of electricity says no way.

Larry
code5coupe

__________
Not easily impressed....

 

Post #8 here has a link with some more infos.

 

I trust SG (Specific Gravity) which is what I belive is hte type of testers that I have

 

You are speaking of a hydrometer for coolant. That's fine but it only indicates your freeze/boiling points. There is more to ensuring that your coolant is in good shape than that. The protectants in coolant wear out over time. This is why it's recommended that you change your coolant at least every couple of years. The corrosion inhibitors wear out and chemical reactions begin to occur between the dissimilar metals in your system, among other things. This causes rust, sludge, decay of the radiator and heater core, shorter hose life and any other number of maladies including head gasket problems. I also add SCAs (supplemental coolant additives) to my system. This reinforces and renews the additives already in ethylene glycol antifreeze. The one I use and recommend is Pencool 3000 by Penray. One pint for a four gallon system at flush time is all you'll need for the average V8 car.
To test your antifreeze for this type of protection there are test strips available. The strips also measure the freeze level protection. A parts store that carries Penray products will have everything you need.
This is also why distilled water is the best thing for your system. Tap water, whether city or well water already contains elements that tax your coolant's protective chemicals. The more they're needed, the faster they wear out, make sense?
The reason I don't like Dexcool (such as came in later C4s) and other extended life coolants is this. They are much more easily contaminated than conventional ethylene glycol. For instance, if you add 10% of system capacity of tap water to the system, you just destroyed it's chemical protective properties. Now it's time to dump it and buy some more of the over-priced crap. Or do the logical thing and install conventional antifreeze and maintain it properly. There are other problems with ELCs too that I won't go into here.
My info on ELCs comes from not only an interest in the subject but also an in depth conversation with a technical consultant for a company who makes OEM coolant additive packages for various vehicle and engine manufacturers. This includes the additive packages for nearly every type of OEM ELC spec'd coolant formula out there. He, like me has no use for the stuff and won't use it in his vehicles either.

 

Way! The dissimilar metals and the electrolyte (coolant) creates a battery, just like the one you use to start your car. The battery produces voltage. When the pH of the coolant drops below 7 (neutral) the coolant is acid and becomes an electrolyte. Also, distilled, or deionized water, is "hungry" for ions and will obtain them by attracting them away from the easiest source of ions, our aluminum radiators. Filtered tap water or softened water is the best to mix with antifreeze for use in your radiator.

RACE ON!!!

 

:

Not only does water look for ions it look for minerals and trace elements.

Water found in nature or tap will be loaded with iron,salts,copper, nickle, etc. the chemical make up of "pure" water makes it attract enough metals and minerals until it is saturated.

If you use distilled water in your radiator it will find those metals and minerals from the internals of your cooling system..radiator, water pump, engine block, etc.

Also know that tap water is different from municipality to municipality, state to state. Water in Florida will have a completely different set of dissolved elements than say Detroit or Denver.

So saying that all tap water is better than distilled would not be correct either because what comes out of your tap in Florida may be worse than the tap in in Denver for your car.

So I wouldn't use distilled..HAve a friend from Pittsburg UPS you a few gallons of Tap.

Matt383

 

Wouldn't distilled water and filtered water be the same thing? Those reverse osmosis water filter systems remove just about everything. Soft water would have salt, wouldn't that be corrosive? You could buy that expensive mineral water and dump it in.

 

Soft water = Calcium and magnesium ions are replaced with sodium ions to reduce fouling. The sodium ions will increase the water's conductivity and speed up galvanic corrosion.

Deionized water = Reverse Osmosis = Filtered to remove minerals, bacteria, etc. Used to desalinate water. Aggressive to metals.

Distilled water = Boiled to remove minerals and bacteria. Cleaner than Deionized, but more expensive. More aggressive to metals.

When deionized water or distilled water is used in a lab, the pipes are always plastic.


You can't win with water. It's a very nasty chemical, but it's damn good at cooling.


The antifreeze is there to do everything the water can't, in this order: Resist corrosion, lower freezing temps, and increase boiling temps.