8: 润滑油基础知识：为何需要散热液
RADIATOR COOLANT IS ANOTHER ESSENTIAL FLUID FOR YOUR VEHICLE’S PERFORMANCE. BUT HOW DOES RADIATOR COOLANT WORK, EXACTLY? AND HOW CAN YOU MAKE SURE IT KEEPS WORKING? READ ON TO FIND OUT.
散热液是保证您车辆性能的另一种必不可少的液体。但是散热液如何正常工作？您如何确定它保持运行？请仔细阅读找出答案。
In our series on the basics of lubricants, we’ve looked at ‘core lubricants’ such as motor oil and transmission fluids. But cars need other fluids too to function properly. Among them, radiator coolant is one of the most indispensable ones. Here’s all you need to know.
在我们关于润滑油基础知识的系列中，我们研究了“核心润滑油”，如 机油和传动液。但是汽车也需要其他液体来维持正常运转。其中，散热液是最不可或缺的冷却液之一。这就是您需要知道的全部内容。
What is radiator coolant?
什么是散热液？
Radiator coolant is a mix of water and antifreeze stored in your vehicle’s radiator. The exact mix varies from engine to engine, but a 50/50 blend is the most common and suffices for most conditions.
散热液是存储在车辆散热器中水和防冻液的混合物。确切的混合比例因发动机而异，但最常见的是50/50混合物，足以满足大多数情况。
How does it work exactly?
散热液究竟如何工作？
Think of how your body uses sweat to cool itself on a hot day: it transfers excess heat to water and then into the outside air. Your engine operates through a similar process. Here’s how: a water pump pushes the radiator coolant throughout your engine. The water in this fluid cools the engine’s components as it passes, picking up some of the heat. The hot fluid then returns to the radiator. In the radiator, the passing outside air carries away some of the fluid’s heat. And the coolant is pumped back into the engine for another cycle.
想想在炎热天气，您的身体如何用汗水来让自己冷却：它会将多余的热量转移到水中然后转移到外部空气里。您的发动机通过类似的过程运行。方法如下：水泵将散热液推入整个发动机。散热液中的水在通过时会冷却发动机的部件，从而吸收一些热量。然后热的液体返回散热器。在散热器中，通过外部空气带走了一些液体热量。然后将冷却液泵回发动机再进行一次循环。
Image: example of a radiator
图片:散热器示例
Why is there antifreeze in your radiator coolant?
为什么散热液中有防冻液？
The antifreeze in the radiator coolant acts as a double safety measure. It prevents the coolant from boiling or freezing even in extreme temperatures.
散热液中的防冻液可作为双重安全措施。即使在极端温度下，它也可以防止冷却液沸腾或结冰。
As noted above, a 50/50 blend is most common, but having a higher ratio of antifreeze to water can both lower the mixture’s freezing point and raise its boiling point to sustain in even more extreme conditions.
如上所述，50/50混合物是最常见的，但水中较高比例的防冻液可以降低混合物的凝固点，又可以提高其沸点从而在更极端的条件下维持运行。
What would happen to an engine without radiator coolant?
没有散热液的发动机会怎样？
Things would get grim fast. After all, your car is powered by constantly burning fuel, creating very high temperatures very quickly. Without a cooling system, it doesn’t take long for critical components to fail.
情况会很快变得严峻。毕竟，您的汽车由持续燃烧的燃料提供动力，会非常快速地产生非常高的温度。如果没有冷却系统，不用很长时间关键部件就会出现故障。
Some authorities even estimate that the majority of all mechanical breakdowns result from failures in the cooling system!
一些权威人士甚至估计，大部分机械故障都是由于冷却系统的故障造成的！
The addition of antifreeze is also vital. Water alone would eventually boil off, causing the engine to rapidly overheat. At the other extreme, a water-only system would also be vulnerable to freezing in the winter, causing the cooling system to malfunction.
添加防冻液也很重要。如果只有水最终会蒸发，导致发动机迅速过热。另一方面，纯水系统在冬天也容易冻结，导致冷却系统发生故障。
What maintenance does a radiator coolant need?
散热液需要如何维护？
You should have your radiator coolant inspected and changed periodically to protect your cooling system against corrosion. Ethylene glycol—the main component of antifreeze—does not expire, but unfortunately this is not true of anti-corrosion additives.
您应定期检查和更换散热液，以保护冷却系统免受腐蚀。防冻液的主要成分乙二醇-不会过期，但不幸的是，防腐添加液并非如此。
How often you need to change your coolant will depend on its type. For example, VW G11 coolant needs replacing every 2–3 years, while VW G12+ coolant only needs replacing every 5–6 years. To find out in detail, visit our online product reco tool.
您需要更换冷却液的频率取决于其类型。例如，大众G11冷却液需要每2-3年更换一次，而大众G12+冷却液只需每5-6年更换一次。欲知详情，欢迎访问我们的在线产品反馈工具。
The cooling system’s components also require periodic inspection. The radiator should be checked for rust, which may reduce its ability to transfer heat. The water pump and thermostat are also vital, and their functioning should be checked. Finally, the amount of coolant in the system should be checked to see if it needs topping off.
也需要定期检查冷却系统的组件。应检查散热器是否生锈，这可能会降低其传热能力。水泵和恒温器也很重要，应检查其功能。最后，应检查系统中的冷却液量，看是否需要补充。
Can you mix coolants?
可以混用冷却液吗？
Do you plan to change coolants and use a new type? The best approach if you plan to change coolants is simply to ‘flush’ the previous coolant from your radiator. This is usually done by a mechanic.
您打算更换并使用新型冷却液吗？如果您打算更换冷却液，最好的方法就是“冲洗”散热器中之前的冷却液。这通常由机修工完成。
Even if that’s not possible, however, you still have options. Some coolant types are miscible (meaning they can be mixed homogeneously), and some are not. Check the table below to see which types you can safely mix. Wolf offers G11, G12+ and G13 specified coolants.
但是，即使无法这样做，您仍然有选择方案。一些类型冷却液是可混溶的（意味着它们可以均匀混合），而有些则不是。请查阅下表，了解可安全混合的类型。Wolf提供G11、G12+和G13专用冷却液。
