Quick test for antifreeze?

[andrewpreece]

Methyl alcohol makes you go blind. I don't think ethylene glycol can be terribly poisonous since the Italians were adulterating wine with it at one time.

Andy.

[r.p.mcmurphy]

due to cold temps tonight, and the fact that my poor old cars are stuck in the drive... i need a quick check for sufficient antifreeze. i heard that antifreeze tastes sweet...so is it ok just to dip a finger in the rad and drop a drip on my tongue? i know its not gonna tell me if there's enough but it will tell me that the previous owners had put some in.

Steve

[r.p.mcmurphy]

Ooops...should have been posted to uk.rec.cars.maintenance! done now! im sure someone will respond though!

steve

[Mike]

So does cyanide I believe.

[John Woodhall]

If your not sure then drain it and refill with fresh mix of 50/50 coolant/antifreeze and water. Don`t forget its the anti corrosive properties that you need as much as the anti freezing. Easy peasy and won`t cost the earth.

[robert]

Halfords or the like sell antifreeze testers.

[Steve Firth]

Ethylene glycol the main component of antifreeze tastes sweet. Sadly it's converted in your liver to oxalic acid which is poisonous. OTOH Darwin should be pleased at your attempts to remove yourself from the gene pool.

Did you know that the urine of diabetics tastes sweet as well, because of the sugar in it. Perhaps you should volunteer your services to the local hospital?

[Grunff]

No, cyanide isn't sweet. Almondy, but not sweet.

And if you're suggesting that the OP would be poisoned by dipping his finger in his engine coolant and tasting it, you are very wrong. It wouldn't harm him at all.

[Grunff]

Come on. It has an LD50 of several grams/kg. So even if his coolant was

100% ethylene glycol, and he weighed a puny 60kg, he'd need to drink 120 grams to even approach the LD50. Dip/taste might transfer 50-100mg to his mouth. Not at all dangerous.

[:::Jerry::::]

Well I wouldn't go that far, but he shouldn't drop dead (in the dilutions

*normally* found in road going engines) !

Trouble is, you don't know what else might have been added or become deposited into the coolant.

[:::Jerry::::]

With out knowing what car / engine you can't say that, some are real bastards these days, and you need to know what you're doing if you're not going to be left with air locks and local over heating of the engine...

[BigWallop]

ROFLMFAO !!!!!!!!!!!!

I heard that stuff makes you go blind almost immediately, as opposed to doing it the slow male way, is this true?

[Grunff]

Chemists have been tasting stuff for hundreds of years, and until a few decades ago it was perfectly normal lab practice. As long as you're careful about how you taste things, transferring only tiny amounts to your tongue, you are very unlikely to poison yourself.

Having said this, it's a crap way to test for antifreeze; unless you know what coolant with and without antifreeze tastes like, it will tell you nothing. The OP should just flush and refill with 40-50% antifreeze. Takes no time, and is well worth doing.

[:::Jerry::::]

I wish I had a 50 quid for ever motorist who has thought that, only to find they have problems ! What you say was true some years back but not now, many engines have coolant systems that are far from simple to refill unless one knows how to do it.

[Owain]

"Mike" wrote | "r.p.mcmurphy" wrote | > i heard that antifreeze tastes sweet | So does cyanide I believe.

I have always believed that it tasted of bitter almonds. Miss D L Sayers ("Bitter Almonds" (A Montague Egg Story): In the teeth of the evidence, Gollancz, 1939.) is usually reliable on poisons.

Owain

[Grunff]

Ok, it's been simple on every car I've ever owned (which has included Saab, BMW, Volvo, Renault, Rover and Honda).

[graham]

If you didn't sound serious, I would say you were taking the piss!

(;-)

Graham

[zaax]

You try that with cocaine your dead before you hit the floor

[S Viemeister]

Apparently, the ability to detect the almondy scent of cyanide is genetic - if you don't have the right gene, you won't be able to smell or taste it.

Sheila (I really must re-read the Sayers books.)

[Andy Dingley]

Go to Partco, buy an antifreeze tester. Cheap.

Assuming that your rad is filled with a mixture of only water and antifreeze (i.e. no raspberry syrup) then the specific gravity tells you their proportions.