Automotive Tips

How Your Vehicle’s Cooling System Functions

Antifreeze has a high boiling point that enables it to hold the engine’s heat effectively. Your vehicle’s cooling system circulates liquid antifreeze or coolant through the engine to absorb heat and prevents a vehicle’s engine from overheating. After flowing through the engine and removing heat, the antifreeze enters the radiator where it is cooled with air. Then, the whole process begins again.

During freeway driving, the cooling system absorbs and transfers enough heat to warm two average-sized homes. While minimizing the risk of overheating is certainly an important function of the cooling system, it also performs other jobs vital to maintaining the performance and longevity of a vehicle’s engine. The cooling system does the following:

• Prevents the engine from freezing in cold temperatures— antifreeze, when comprised of a 50/50 mix of ethylene glycol and water, has a low freezing point of -35 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Maintains optimal engine temperatures— the cooling system allows the engine to heat up quickly and operate at a constant temperature with the following benefits:
  • Increased engine efficiency— the engine’s oil will have a lower viscosity so that engine components will move more easily using less power.
  • Decreased emissions— an optimal engine temperature results in better fuel vaporization.
  • Less wear— metal engine parts will wear less and last longer.
  • Reduces the risk of corrosion— antifreeze contains additives to reduce corrosion or rust inside the radiator/cooling system.

Checking coolant levels and changing coolant at regular intervals according to manufacturer’s recommendations is important to the life of your vehicle’s engine. Coolant, just like oil and other vital fluids, can leak, break down, or become contaminated, losing its ability to protect your engine.

The professionals at Jiffy Lube offer a check of antifreeze/coolant levels with every oil change. Our cooling system services offer engine protection from extreme outside temperatures and include removing old fluids and replacing it with new coolant.

Prepare your vehicle and keep it going in any kind of weather. Stop by your neighborhood Jiffy Lube for cooling system services today.