Antifreeze?

All cars use it, the radiator in your car cools your engine and needs water and antifreeze/coolant to work. You can find antifreeze at any local auto parts store and even Walmart. Some of these antifreeze/coolants are already 50/50, meaning that they are half antifreeze and half water. If you buy one that is just antifreeze/coolant you can mix it with water at home. It doesn't make a difference.

                                                                Photo by: Maria Avila

When checking the levels of your antifreeze/coolant you can refer to the owner's manual to pin point where it is at under the hood of your car. Do not open the reservoir while your car is hot.

To determine whether you have too much or too little antifreeze/coolant you can look on the side of the reservoir where it contains two marks one for the minimum amount and one for the maximum amount.

Coolant is usually red, green, blue, or yellow. If it looks colorless, looks rusty, or has things floating around in it, flush your cooling system (I will post on how to flush your cooling system) and add new coolant.

If you don't have the money to buy antifreeze/coolant you can put just plain water in place of the antifreeze/coolant, though it isn't recommended it will do the job. However, if you live in an area where the temperature outdoors gets below freezing, do not add only water. It must contain the antifreeze/coolant or the water will freeze in your radiator and ruin it.