WHAT IS A COOLING SYSTEM SERVICE?

 

Your radiator protects your engine from overheating. It also plays another important role. In today's computer controlled engines, a radiator coolant temperature sensor actually tells your car's computer and other sensors how to adjust your fuel mixture and timing. So, the efficiency of your radiator directly effects the efficiency of your engine.

 

That's why we recommend flushing your cooling system at least once every two years. More importantly, we recommend having this service performed by a knowledgeable repair shop with the right equipment.

 

Our Cooling System Power Flush continuously forces coolant under pressure through the engine, radiator and heater core in both directions at different times. Simultaneously, it forces the coolant through 25 and 5micron filters to remove contaminates.

 

While the coolant is circulating, we add water or antifreeze, whichever is needed. The molecules in water are spaced far apart, so water easily absorbs heat from the engine, but water can freeze and corrode metal. The molecules in antifreeze are packed tightly together, so antifreeze does not absorb heat from the engine as efficiently as water, but its ethylene glycol silicone base keeps the water from freezing, protects your radiator from corrosion and lubricates the moving parts in your cooling system. When our coolant temperature reading indicates 35 degrees throughout the system, we know that we have achieved the correct 50/50 balance of water and antifreeze.

 

We also add a special concentrate to achieve the correct pH level of 10.5 throughout the cooling system. Without this, the 7.0  7.2 pH of water would combine with the 10.5 pH of antifreeze to create an 8.75 pH mixture so acidic that the resulting electrochemical degradation would deteriorate your radiator, heater core, water pump, head gaskets, freeze plugs, radiator and heater hoses.

 

Finally, we pressure test your cooling system for leaks, clean the recovery bottle and test the radiator cap to be sure that it holds the proper pressure.

 

Once your cooling system service is completed, the radiator coolant should stay in the safe pH range of between 9.8 and 10.5 for about 2 years or 30,000 miles.