How to Calculate the Concentration of Coolant in a Car

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This is how you can calculate the concentration of coolant in your vehicle. All cars have a specified coolant concentration (usually in the owner's manual) which should be adhered to. It is not too hard to work out how to mix up coolant (Assuming you are not using pre-mixed coolant) to a determined concentration, but how do you find out how much is already in the cooling system, and how much to top up?

Steps

1. 1
   Find the coolant capacity of your car, usually this is somewhere between 8 to 18 liters. This should be in your owner's manual. Call this CAP for capacity, 12 liters say.

   
   
2. 2
   The preferred coolant concentration level (usually between 33% to 50%).
3. 3
   Something to measure coolant concentration, a refractometer is better, but a hydrometer will also suffice. We will just refer to this as %
4. 4
   Find the amount of concentrated coolant in the system, this is CAP x % i.e. 12 x 25% is 3 liters
5. 5
   Find the amount of concentrated coolant required, this is CAP x % or 12 x 50% i.e. 6 liters
6. 6
   Add the amount of new Concentrated Coolant, this is 6 – 3 or 3 liters in this example

   
   

Warnings

• Most Coolant is toxic to animals, dispose of properly.

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