Antifreeze keeps the water from boiling while the vehicle is operating and from freezing solid in the winter. When it comes to the two elements of coolant-water and antifreeze-water does the work of absorbing heat from the engine and relinquishing it into the air. The coolant in the radiator is then pumped through hoses back towards the engine where it begins the cycle all over again. The coolant is then pumped to the radiator where a fan blows the heat out into the atmosphere, dropping the temperature of the liquid. To keep them from overheating, the cooling system pumps coolant- a 50/50 mixture of water and antifreeze-through the engine to absorb the heat and cool it down. The metal parts inside the engine are designed to withstand hot conditions, but much higher than 220 degrees for an extended period of time would damage them. To give you a sense of how hot that is: Water boils at 212 degrees. It is an incredibly hot ecosystem-roughly 195-220 degrees Fahrenheit under ordinary conditions, and even hotter for short periods of time.

Additionally, mechanical parts are moving at hundreds of miles an hour against each other continuously. Sparks are igniting fuel and air and creating hundreds of explosions every minute inside it. The engine of your car or truck is an inhospitable place for just about anything. Let’s take a look at the critical role coolant plays in an automobile engine and then determine how low coolant can occur without a leak. It is possible for levels to drop without a visible leak, or any leak at all. How can it be that the level of coolant in your car is low but you don’t seem to have a leak? Aren’t low coolant levels an indication of a leak? And what is the big deal about coolant in the first place?

Signs of coolant in oil