Andy Dingley wrote in message . ..
On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 20:53:54 -0000, "r.p.mcmurphy"
wrote:

i need a quick check for sufficient antifreeze.

Put some in a bottle, put it in the freezer, see if it freezes.

Ethylene glycol is used in most automotive anti-freeze mixture. It is
toxic. It is used as a wood preservative. I don't know what you hope
to determine from the taste.

The corrosion inhibitors degrade in use; the antifreeze mixture
absorbs oxygen the glycols combine with the oxygen to form acidic
compounds. When the reserve alkalinity is exhausted, the mixture
becomes acidic and galvanic corrosion starts devouring some engine
components. The usual recommendation is to drain and refill every 3
years. Some recent cars use OAT (organic acid technology), which lasts
much longer, but I know nothing about.I

Propylene glycol is also used as anti-freeze in situations where a
toxic mixture would be a hazard, for example in heating systems with
an indirect hot water heater. It is non-toxic and it is very, very
sweet. It is used as an artificial sweetener. I think that PG was
probably what was used to adulterate the wine; I thought it was the
Austrians.

Tasting is often used with propylene glycol to identify leaks, it is
so sweet it will put your teeth on edge. Tasting is probably
inadvisable, it has it's own hazards. A heating contractor I know of
visited a dark basement in which he had installed a boiler system. The
system had been filled with a propylene glycol antifreeze mixture. He
noticed a puddle on the floor near the boiler, so dipped a finger
into it and tasted it.

It wasn't sweet, so therefore it couldn't be anti-freeze. As he
wondered what it could be, he noticed a large alsatian dog watching
him from a corner.