The recession has hit just about everybody hard. Money is tight and most of us are looking for ways to save some. One area where it’s relatively easy to do this is with car repairs. Simply put, you can do repairs yourself and save a bunch of money. Doing so is fine, however, you need to make sure that you don’t cause more trouble than you think by doing the work yourself.
As the temperatures warm up with the onset of spring, it’s time to start thinking about the coolant system in your car. Every year, you need to make sure that the system is working at peak so that it doesn’t fail you when the days get really hot and you need the car to work. While checking your radiator and hoses are very important, the most common maintenance step that makes a huge difference is to change your own coolant. Fortunately, it’s fairly simple, but there is a safety issue that has to be considered.
What is the safety issue? It has to do with the nature of the coolant. If you put water into your radiator, you’re making a mistake. Coolant systems have gone high-tech. Remember, this is the key thing that is keeping your engine from seizing up. Replacing engines is expensive, so make sure you get this one right. The coolant that you want to put in the radiator is a mix of various chemicals that are designed to fight corrosion and deal with the vast heat produced by the engine. The key word in that phrase is “chemical”. There’s no way to camouflage the issue. The chemicals in your car coolant system are simply nasty. This is where the issue of safety comes to the forefront.
For some reason, coolant is highly attractive to every thing from your pets to children. Perhaps the bright color of coolant is attractive or liquid on a cool day just seems good, but kids and pets will go for it. The problem, of course, is the chemicals in coolant will seriously injury or kill a child or pet. This stuff is nasty. While tragic, the truth is that most instances of children being harmed because they take a mouthful of coolant are pretty rare. The reality is far more likely that your pets will get into it. For some reason, cats appear to be particularly attracted to it. A couple tongue laps of coolant, however, will kill your cat. It takes a bit more for a dog, but not much.
Changing your coolant by yourself instead of taking it into a shop can save you some serious cash. The cost of coolant is about 10 bucks per bottle. That being said, it is going to cost you a lot more if you’re not careful. Make sure you seal the container you put the coolant in. Once done with the project, make sure to take your coolant down to the local gas station or to a facility where it can be disposed of properly.
