Asking for opinion or any facts on the Reuse of coolant in either a Radiator R&I procedure or removal for repair

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Permalink Reply by Tyler L. Nelson on September 4, 2010 at 12:04am

It really depends on the condition of the coolant removed. The first thing to do is test the coolant and see if it is still good, the second thing to do is to see if it can be removed without contaminating it. Sure, a couple drops of oil or grease wont hurt anything, but its not supposed to be in the system. If you re-use coolant, without the owners express written request.. (Consent is far different from a request) You open up a whole can of worms as far as return work if the owner even THINKS something is wrong.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Bowen on September 7, 2010 at 10:18am

Well, what do you mean written request versus written consent?

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Permalink Reply by Tyler L. Nelson on September 7, 2010 at 7:21pm

Well, obviously if someone has written a request that you do something (re-use the coolant), the thing to do is what the customer wants. Just make sure that its written. As always, cover your @$$, but remind the customer that old antifreeze can damage an engine. Ultimately, theyre the ones paying for it.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Fowler on September 7, 2010 at 3:29pm

Is it really worth the trouble?

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Permalink Reply by Tony Bowen on September 8, 2010 at 8:20am

what do you mean. to reuse or not get reimbursed for new coolant because the insurance company says you should be able to reuse the coolant?

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Permalink Reply by Tyler L. Nelson on September 8, 2010 at 9:08am

Woah now, thats a different ballgame all together... Its one thing for a customer to ask you to re-use coolant, its entirely different for an insurance company to do it. Afterall, they dont own and drive the vehicle. On one hand, if the coolant's good, the odds are that the customer will never know and there will never be a problem. On the other hand, do you really want to expose yourself to a potentially PO'd customer on the marginal chance something goes wrong? How comfortable are you that the antifreeze is good? If it looks clean, and has the right PH, its good. If not, tell the insurance co. that it should be replaced. If you were doing the work in your driveway on your own vehicle what would you do?

At the end of the day, you are the one thats responsible for what you do. Realistically, it'd probably be at least a year before even bad coolant gummed up and destroyed a radiator, heater core, thermostat, or dissolved the seals in the water pump.

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Permalink Reply by Randy Profeta on September 17, 2010 at 7:16am

Virtually all manufacturers recommend that drained coolant be replaced IF a component was also replaced. Coolant contains corrosion inhibitors that coat the interior passages of metal components. There is no way to replace the corrosion inhibitors nor to know if it still is active. Since many mfrs use high mileage coolant (100,000 mile or lifetime, not replacing it may mean warranty concerns if a part in the cooling system fails and the old coolant was re-used.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Bowen on September 17, 2010 at 8:35am

I tried looking for Manufacturers policy on this. Insurance company states it is not going to go by Recommendations because the Manufacturers also recommend to use OEM parts so the Insurance company says that argument does not fly with them.

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Permalink Reply by Tyler L. Nelson on September 17, 2010 at 9:07am

Did you give the customer the option of replacing the coolant at the cost of coolant alone? If you inform them that the insurance co. wants to re-use the coolant, but give them the option of having it replaced at a "Minimal" cost to them, that might solve the dillemma. Also, consider the size of the repair... On a $1000+ repair bill, is absorbing $20 for coolant really going to break anyone's bank?

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Permalink Reply by James Moy on October 31, 2010 at 7:31am

If I were a mechanical tech, I would change the fluid. I would also flush the system, check the operation of the thermostat, and might even change the hoses. Most of the time the labor is just an additional .3 for the hoses. But I don't think that is what you were asking.

If I were to just remove and replace the radiator, I might just run the coolant through a coffee filter. The insurance company shouldn't be responsible for the coolant that was in the system or be responsible for the maintenance. But I would suggest to the owner that I they should pay for new coolant and a flush.

If you were changing lets say a rad support. I would "have" to put the used coolant in a recycling drum labeled "used coolant". I believe this is true in most cases that if you have hazardous materials laying around it has to have a msds sheet along with a proper label on the container. No one is going to ask you to use a clean container, store the used coolant, and label it. If they are, just charge for it.

I used to buy bulk oil, power steering fluid, trans oil, and coolant. I've stopped that practice several years back and just use OEM now. I just looked at my shelf and I have way too many bottles of everything left over.

Hope this helps.

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