
Next on our list of the best antifreeze testers is this SMARTSMITH tool, which is an optical device that measures the freezing point of engine coolant. This tester’s clear glass body gives you a visual indicator of the condition of the antifreeze and your car’s cooling system and radiator. OEMTOOLS says that if its tester’s sixth disc also floats, you need to adjust the ratio of antifreeze to water in your vehicle. The number of floating discs reveals the condition of the fluid: five floating discs means the coolant is in ideal condition. Once you’ve filled the tester with coolant, you’ll see the discs inside begin to float. Using this recommendation is similar to other analog testers: you squeeze the bulb, insert the tube into your engine’s radiator or cooling system expansion tank until it is submerged, and release the tube to pull antifreeze into the tester’s glass housing. Instead of a dial and pointer seen on other popular antifreeze testers, the OEMTOOLS design uses floating discs to show you the condition of the coolant in your car’s engine. While you’re measuring the antifreeze’s resistance to boiling and freezing, you can use the tester’s clear body to do a visual inspection of the coolant, which can reveal internal cooling system issues like excess acidity and electrolysis.įrom OEMTOOLS comes this antifreeze tester, an analog tool that uses tried-and-true technology to help you maintain your vehicle, but with an interesting design. One side of the tester shows how well the antifreeze will resist boiling in hot weather, while the other side reveals the fluid’s freezing point, which is critical knowledge for winter driving in cold climates. To use it, squeeze the bulb, submerge the end of the rubber hose in the antifreeze visible when you remove the radiator cap, and then release the bulb to pull the fluid up into the body of the tester to reveal the condition of the antifreeze. The Prestone AF-1420 is a straightforward analog tester that uses a dial to show you the freezing and boiling points of the antifreeze in your engine’s cooling system. We start our list of the best antifreeze testers with this product from Prestone, a name you’ll surely recognize as a long-time maker of antifreeze and other automotive fluids. Armed with one of these testers and some basic knowledge of how your car’s cooling system works, you can make sure your engine is ready to go no matter the weather.įor more information on the best antifreeze testers, refer to our table of contents.

These affordable tools make it easy for you to check the condition of your car’s antifreeze or coolant. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of the best antifreeze testers.
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Frozen antifreeze can be just as harmful to your vehicle’s engine as excess heat: liquid expands when it freezes, and if that happens inside your engine, it can literally crack the metal and leave you with an inoperable vehicle and an expensive repair bill. But as its name suggests, that antifreeze also prevents freezing in cold weather.

Maintenance is critical when it comes to your engine’s cooling system, which circulates antifreeze-also known as coolant-through the engine to keep it from overheating. What you do need, however, is to put one of the marketplace’s best antifreeze testers in your do-it-yourself vehicle maintenance tool box.

You don’t need to be an automotive expert to protect your cooling system against the vagaries of hot and cold weather. Your vehicle is a complicated piece of machinery, and keeping it running smoothly requires periodic inspections and maintenance of its various systems, including your engine’s cooling system and the antifreeze contained within it.
