Re: How is coolant oil based!?!

[Phil and Judy Rose <pjrose@servtech.com>]

"oily"??? Well sorta. But really not an oil.

Maybe what people are _trying_ to say is "viscous, or greasy liquid". The
term "oil" often has, in many contexts, the specification of
water-insolubility, a test which ethylene glycol definitely fails. But one
of the meanings of the term oil is: "any of various substances having the
consistency of oil" (i.e., viscous, greasy liquid). The viscous, slippery
nature of ethylene glycol is inherent in that liquid. Not related to
"additives".

Phil


>Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 22:41:59 -0500
>From: nscbarry@mail.msy.bellsouth.net
>Subject: Re: How is coolant oil based!?!
>
>Coolant is primarily ethylene glycol, actually an alcohol, the oily texture
>prob. comes from the additives to prevent corrosion, and the like. The
>ethylene glycol is what gives coolant that sickeningly sweet odor you smell
>when you blow a hose, or have some other leak in the system.
>
>Richard Haroutunian wrote:
>
>> well, i don't know -- i'm just going by what someone told me.. i don;t
>> think he meant it'
>> s 'oil-based' i think he meant that coolant has an oily texture because
>> it's made up of some 'ethyl' something-or-other that gives it an oily
>> texture.

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