Why does antifreeze come in so many colors?
Antifreeze itself is colorless. It is artificially colored when it leaves the factory. In fact, it just adds some dyes to make it appear in different colors. As for why the colors are different, there are actually some conventional reasons, as well as the manufacturer's own arbitrariness.
Antifreeze ingredients
Antifreeze is also known as antifreeze coolant. Its main components are methanol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, glycerol, silicate, etc. These "mother liquors" are mixed with pure soft water in different proportions to become antifreeze. Generally speaking, antifreeze has the characteristics of high boiling point and low freezing point.
Antifreeze color
The colors of antifreeze are generally green, blue, pink, and some have fluorescent effects. Usually, ethylene glycol is green, propylene glycol is blue, and glycerol is pink. Of course, many manufacturers are also arbitrary, and some may add some fluorescent green to distinguish.
Mixing is prohibited
The reason why antifreeze has so many different colors is that the key is the different formulas of various antifreeze manufacturers. In terms of ingredients, ethylene glycol is generally green, propylene glycol is red with a hint of orange, and glycerol is blue. At the same time, in order to prevent confusion with other liquids and prevent people from accidentally ingesting them, many manufacturers will also add different color formulas to distinguish them.
Easy to distinguish when leaking
After the engine leaks, it is easy to identify during judgment and maintenance due to its own color.
Based on safety considerations
These chemical components of the engine are all toxic, so general liquids such as windshield washer fluid and antifreeze are dyed to prevent accidental ingestion.
Anti-corrosion function is the first consideration
Because the engine cooling system is linked by a set of systems, there are many materials involved, such as the cylinder body of a car is cast aluminum, the cylinder body of a large truck is cast iron, and the water tank is mainly made of copper and brass. Antifreeze is in contact with them all the time, so the anti-corrosion function is particularly important, which can better protect the water tank and extend the service life of the engine.
Anti-scaling function
Early vehicles used water instead of water, which easily formed scale, resulting in uneven heat transfer and heat dissipation, which easily led to cylinder liner wear and even piston jamming in the engine, and the water tank was prone to boiling. High-quality antifreeze is made of distilled water and added with anti-scaling additives, so it will not produce any scale.
High boiling point function to avoid boiling, anti-freeze function
In addition, antifreeze is composed of base liquid and additives, the base liquid is composed of distilled water and ethylene glycol or diethylene glycol. Additives include rust inhibitors, mildew inhibitors, pH adjusters (buffers), antifoaming agents and colorants.
Generally speaking, antifreeze of different colors cannot be mixed, and antifreeze of the same color must also be distinguished by its specific ingredients. Currently, most antifreeze is ethylene glycol-based organic acid antifreeze, which uses some chemical properties of organic acid compounds to prevent scale and corrosion of engine metals.
