It’s September in Richmond. The leaves haven’t even turned yet. The official start of Autumn is still a week away. You really don’t have to worry about the fluid running through your car, truck or SUV’s radiator freezing. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a thought or two.

You don’t want to wait until it’s freezing outside to have your coolant checked to ensure that a cold Richmond morning won’t prove too much for it. Check it now. Check it before the bitter cold of winter sets in.

You don’t necessarily want to make a special trip to have your coolant checked. But if you’re bringing the car, truck or SUV in for an oil change, they can check the antifreeze, too.

Not to get confused – coolant and antifreeze refers to the same liquid. It’s a dual-purpose fluid that plays an essential role in the operation of your vehicle’s engine. On the one hand, it’s a coolant. As the fluid flows through the engine, it collects heat generated by the friction of moving parts inside.

The fluid then runs through the radiator. The fan pulls air through the radiator that carries the heat away. It’s a catch-and-release process, you might say.

On the other hand, the fluid is an antifreeze. While the process of carrying heat out of the engine and releasing it occurs all-year long – engines get hot in the winter, too – in the winter, the fluid also needs to avoiding freezing when the car sits on a cold day or night.

If the coolant freezes, it can do very bad things to the engine. It can actually crack the engine block. That would mean that you need a new engine. And those aren’t cheap.

In other words, checking your coolant to make sure it’s also effective as an antifreeze is a critical matter. This explains why you don’t want to wait until winter to ensure that it does the job.

Checking the antifreeze includes checking that it will work effectively as a coolant, too. When this essential fluid is up to par, it won’t freeze until extremes of cold and won’t boil until extremes of heat. You’ll have a wide spread between the two.

As coolant/antifreeze looses its effectiveness, the spread between its ability to avoid freezing and boiling narrows. It will boil at lower temperatures and it will freeze at higher temperatures. As a coolant, it should be good to 265-degrees Fahrenheit. As an antifreeze, it should avoid freezing to at least 34-degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

It’s likely most of us are hoping we don’t hit 34-below this Richmond winter. But it’s sure to get darn cold – always does. Make sure the antifreeze in your car, truck or SUV is ready. Have your coolant/antifreeze checked soon.