Antifreeze and Coolant Service
Coolant does two jobs. It keeps the engine from overheating in summer and from freezing in winter, and it stops the inside of the engine and radiator from corroding. When it breaks down or leaks out, the engine runs hotter than it should, and that's how a lot of expensive engine damage starts.
Most of the time this comes up one of two ways. Either the coolant is just old and due for a change, or there's a leak somewhere and the level keeps dropping. Old coolant loses its ability to protect metal and rubber and can turn slightly acidic. A leak usually shows up as a sweet smell in the cabin, a puddle under the front of the car, white residue on a hose clamp, or the temperature gauge creeping up on the highway. Sometimes there's no leak at all and the low coolant light just comes on because nobody's checked it in a couple years.
A straightforward coolant service means draining the old fluid, flushing the system, and refilling with the correct type for that vehicle. That last part matters more than people expect. Coolants aren't all interchangeable, and mixing the wrong kind with what's already in there can cause sludge that clogs the radiator and heater core. We use ZEREX G-40, which is a universal HOAT coolant that covers most makes we see, but if a car calls for something specific we'll say so before we put anything in it.
If there's an actual leak, the flush is only half the job. We need to find where it's coming from, whether that's a hose, the radiator, a water pump, or a heater core, before refilling and driving it. Topping off coolant on a car that's leaking just buys a little time and hides the real problem.
On an older car, this is where we're honest with you. If the radiator is original and starting to seep at the seams, or the heater core is the culprit, sometimes the cost of the repair starts competing with what the car is worth. We'll tell you what we're seeing and what the options are, including doing nothing for now if that's a reasonable choice, rather than pushing a repair on a car that's on its way out anyway.
Nick Porter handles most of the diagnostic work on cooling and engine issues here, so if the car is doing something odd, like running rough at idle or a strange smell after it's been running a while, it's worth describing exactly what you're seeing when you call. We're at 28801 Meridian E in Graham, open Monday through Saturday, and Saturday appointments tend to fill up since a lot of shops around here are closed that day.