I have a 1992 Laser that I drive 4K a year. Mostly short trips . The manual says change radiator coolant every 2 years/24k miles. Have coolants improved in the last 25 years that I can extend these coolant changes now ? How often do you recommend. Thanx for any advice
I want to add that I have the original radiator in the car . Always changed coolant on schedule. (my neighbor’s 1992 BMW had its radiator replaced ten years ago.)
The price of coolant is cheap, I’d continue to change every 2 years on such an old car, make sure whatever you’re using is compatible with the original spec’d coolant.
2 years seems awful frequent. The manufacturer has a reason for it, though, so I’d think it’s advisable to stick it.
Despite the low annual mileage, suggest to stick w/the 2 year coolant replacement schedule. Chemicals in the coolant protects against internal engine corrosion. There’s a chemical reaction occurring all the time between the water in the coolant and the engine’s internal metal parts, resulting in the coolant gradually becoming more and more acid as time passes. The aluminum parts are especially prone to this. The more acid the coolant becomes, the worse the corrosion.
I’m on a 3 year schedule on both of my vehicles, but I’d probably be better off at 2 years.
2 years has been the coolant change interval ever since they came out with ethylene glycol anti-freeze to replace the alcohol based ones that you had to test frequently and add alcohol. It was not until the long life coo;ants came out that the interval went to 5 years. The 2 year stuff was green, the 5 year stuff may be red or yellow but I have never seen it as green.
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I’ve always used tried and true plain old Prestone, which is yellow. I’m not sure what change out interval they recommend. Yellow is a good color b/c if it leaks you know your car is incontinent … lol …
The yellow Prestone is a long life coolant. Prestone used to be green like everything else.
The phrase “good old yellow Prestone” makes me feel really, really old.
Question:
If Tom777 switches to use one of the newer long life “5-year/150K-mile” antifreezes, why are some saying he still should change it every 2-3 years?
Erring on the conservative side probably. Replacing the coolant isn’t an overly expensive maintenance item. And not much can go wrong. The upside of overly frequent changes outweighs the downside.
Get some antifreeze test strips at your auto parts store. Follow the directions, which should say to test cold coolant by dipping the test strip into the coolant for a few minutes, reading the color of the strip between 2 to 5 minutes. The strips come with a color comparison chart to read pH. If the pH is too low, replace the coolant. You can do dip the test strips in the overflow reservoir, but only if you haven’t added antifreeze or water into the reservoir. Use a hydrometer to test antifreeze strength. Start testing when two years elapsed since the last change, and test every 3 to 6 months until you need to change again.
Perhaps the second sentence is the reason you can write the first sentence.
What you’re doing is clearly working. Why change what you’re doing?
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