How do engine coolants work?
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Engine coolant is a liquid that gets heated up by the engine block and other components, and is then passed through a radiator to cool it down with the outside air.
This is important because if an engine overheats it will become damaged and could fail.
Liquid coolant is required for most car engines because air cooling (passing air over the engine) just isn’t adequate to cool down most car engines. It can’t get the engine heat out quickly or efficiently enough.
Coolant is circulated through the engine by a coolant pump that is spun by the engine belt.
Car coolant is primarily water, and in fact replacing your coolant entirely with water would work depending on the conditions. However this is not recommended other than as a temporary fix.
Coolant is typically mixed with anti-freeze like propylene glycol that as the name implies prevents the coolant from freezing in the winter. If you use water as coolant without antifreeze it will turn to ice and destroy your radiator and coolant system.
Antifreeze also increases the boiling point of the coolant, albeit not by much.
The coolant is kept under pressure within the cooling system, and it’s this pressure that prevents it from boiling and turning into steam. However if the pressure becomes too much a relief valve will pop to prevent the system from exploding. This will let off steam and the coolant will boil off. This is what you sometimes see in movies when people are driving through the desert, they let their engines get too hot and the boiled over. But they can’t drive away until they re-fill the system with coolant.
Racing cars like Formula 1 are known for running ‘waterless coolant’ esoteric chemicals that are more efficient at removing engine heat and can operate at higher pressures.
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