My old retired mechanic used a clear sorta plastic thing that he looked through to check my coolant quality. Any idea what he was checking for? Ph level? My new young mechanic is very good but he doesn't do this check. Do you think he should? Thanks: Dave {black}:deceitful:
Was there something about my answer ya didn't like? Or was down vote an accidental click? Just curious and one thing we're trying to get a handle on is accidental clicks (see indications of this in several places since starting web site and just trying to pin it down a bit more...happens with stuff besides votes too). A reply is appreciated on this question. If you didn't like my answer which is totally fine by me. Thank you.
A hygrometer to check specific gravity most likely that can determine the freezing point. Used to be common but arguably not needed anymore as quality of coolant is much better and under normal operating conditions and changed per maintenance schedule. Back then you could use it to determine when coolant started degrading IF you had been keeping an eye on it... thus indicating a when to change it before it went totally bad.
He was checking the freezing point of the coolant. If you were to use 100% water it would freeze at 32 degrees. The more coolant % you add the lower the freezing temp. You don't want your freezing temp to be too high or else your engine could get destroyed if it gets too cold outside.
This video explains it well if you want something more in depth:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29z94xBdAjE
Most of those plastic thingies are measuring the density of the fluid, which is correlated to the concentration of antifreeze in the coolant. This concentration affects the freezing point of the coolant.
Ask the new young mechanic what is the exact freezing point of your coolant and see what he says.
Scotty posted a video about that today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYcrCnmg7A4
