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Coolant testing

Help ensure engine reliability with comprehensive coolant testing

Engine cooling systems are more complex than ever before. Testing of coolants in your system is another vital application of analysing in-service fluids to maintain engine health and reliability of the vital components of today’s modern engine.

Cooling systems must work harder than ever to protect systems against corrosion, build-up and contamination. Early detection of potential problems allows you to better determine when additives are needed to maintain the necessary level of corrosion protection. Whether extended life coolant (ELC) or conventional coolant, these fluids can be exposed to contamination, coolant dilution, additive mixing, and oxidation due to extreme temperatures. Laboratory coolant testing removes uncertainty, and regular testing allows you to closely monitor your coolant.

Optimise Cooling System Reliability

Customised coolant test packages and comprehensive insights for engine health

Routine testing provides a trending analysis report that will produce information to help optimise cooling system reliability for engine health. Testing can provide insight into several areas for predictive maintenance and equipment care. 

  • Proper coolant formulation
  • Coolant mixing and compatibility
  • Additive depletion
  • Contaminants
  • Metals from corrosion and electrolysis
  • Scale formation
  • Acid formation
  • Failed EGR
  • When coolant should be removed and replenished with new coolant

Our laboratory network offers routine, cost-effective packages that test appearance, freeze point, percent glycol, boiling point, nitrites (SCA) levels, pH, and total dissolved solids. Trending of the basic test package will help ensure the coolant formulation is meeting performance requirements.

More advanced testing at our dedicated regional laboratories provides test packages that include additional testing, such as metals determination, silicon, chlorides, sulfates, nitrates, phosphates, and individual OAI additives for extended-life coolants. Additional testing will report the level of the corrosion inhibitor additive package, which prevents deterioration of metal surfaces, and will monitor the breakdown of glycol by determining the level of glycolate acids in the coolant.

ALS’ professional coolant analysis team understands today’s coolant formulations while offering more than 50 years of coolant analysis experience to our clients

We work with engine manufacturers to help ensure current knowledge of product specification and formulations are available and applied. Test results showing coolant condition are trended to monitor the ongoing condition of coolant systems. 

Sample kits are readily available for ordering dedicated-to-coolant sampling, which can include prepaid testing for chosen test packages. Sampling supplies are also available to help ensure consistent and representative samples are taken for analysis.

ALS provides branded testing programs to complement private-label oil testing programs. This includes branded test kits, marketing materials and data reporting.