Hi Scotty and mods,
Just a quick question, I have left over UV leak dye for my car AC system. My question is can I use it for Radiator too? I think it is UV oil, not sure it will went well with coolant.
My country does not have UV dye for coolant, any advice to detect minor coolant leak if I cannot use my AC UV dye
My car models is 2008 Corolla with 1.8 engine.
No, the UV dye for AC systems is designed to work with oil in the refrigerant, the dye for cooling systems is designed for use with water and antifreeze. If you don't have cooling system dye available you can still pressure-test the system and do a visual check for leaks.
Don't bother with lame hacks.
Water soluble fluorescent dye is so cheap on Amazon. Less than $10 and you'll have enough to last your lifetime.
I wouldn't call it a hack, same chemicals but much cheaper (5-10 pack at the dollar store).
I used to drop the ink into interesting bottles for blacklight effect at home then used if I needed to check for a leak, just poured some in. Worked just as well as the bottle parts stores sell.
If you have time to soak and milk your highlighters, knock yourself out.
Those who want get their car fixed so they can move on to better uses of their time, they can buy it for next to nothing and just add a few drops.
This goes for coolant only but if you want to make your own use two fluorescent yellow highlighters.
Take the foam piece out of the highlighter & let it soak in a cup of water for a few hours, squeeze out the fluid once an hour.
Once the foam looks white, you've gotten all of the dye out, dispose of the foam & you can add the water mix to your radiator. You'll just need a uv black light to see it which I'm guessing you already have.
Thanks for the life hack! I will try your method if I unable to find leak around my system.