Automotive antifreeze recycling
Brake fluid does burn. DOT3, DOT4, and DOT5 all burn, and all about the same. It is not a fast, explosive burn like gasoline, but a slower burn like vegetable oil, or a little faster than candle wax.
The easiest place to recycle transmission fluid may be your local household hazardous waste facility. This is true even though transmission fluid is not necessarily considered a hazardous waste. Since transmission fluid is almost always recycled, it is often considered a recyclable product.
Spray warm water on the area and scrub with a stiff bristle brush. If the stain has been on the concrete for a long time, you will have to repeat the process a few times before it cleans properly.
In some cases, local recycling centers or auto supply stores may have facilities that allow you to recycle brake fluid. If the brake fluid is unused and expired, you can dispose of it by letting it evaporate in a container of kitty litter.
Recycling coolant
You must have two clear ideas when changing the antifreeze in your car: first, it is not just a matter of removing the old one and putting in a new one, you must clean the inside of the radiator if the engine is old. Second, when you do it, if the engine is running it should never run out of fluid.
The first thing, as always, is to find where the antifreeze drain valve is. It can be anywhere on the underside of the radiator and can be: a hand-operated stopcock or a screw or simply a clamped sleeve that will need to be loosened to remove it.
Place the container underneath and open the drain valve. Be careful because antifreeze is toxic (especially non-organic). We encourage you to take it to a clean point where they will treat it properly. Let it come out a little and then open the cap of the expansion vessel, to let air in and out more easily.
When the antifreeze has stopped coming out, close the cap or replace the hose. Use a few jugs of water or a hose to pour normal water into the expansion vessel. Pour plenty of water into the expansion vessel without letting it run out so as not to wet anything else in the engine compartment. Remove the antifreeze return tube to the expansion vessel and direct it to the container you use to recycle antifreeze.
How to dispose of antifreeze
In both hot and cold weather, it is very important that the cooling system is fully tuned. And sometimes, the circuit is not in optimal conditions and many problems can occur in the short and long term. But do you know how to clean your car’s radiator? Learn and save a lot of money by keeping this important element in good condition without having to change it… and avoid breakdowns! and avoid breakdowns!
Over time, the radiator may contain sediments, due to lack of use (always remember that liquids deteriorate over time and leave residues, especially if they remain stagnant for a long time, without circulating), a poor quality product or the cooling circuit is not watertight (aging of hoses, poorly tightened clamps), parking space outdoors or a garage with too much moisture, rust …
Antifreeze hazardous waste
Antifreeze is the key element of the vehicle’s cooling system. Without it, heat transfer would be impossible and the combustion engine would eventually overheat and stop working. That is why, if we have any leakage of this liquid, we must know how to solve the problem safely.
The quick and easy answer is to take the car to the garage for repair. However, it is a good idea to have some knowledge of mechanics in case you want to save some money or, at least, to get out of an emergency situation.
If you can’t see where it is, before you get down on the ground to look underneath, you can try to see where it leaves a dripping puddle. If you can’t see it clearly on the ground your car is on, you can use the same trick as with checking for brake fluid leakage. That is, cover the floor with kitchen paper, newspaper or the like, place the car on top of it and wait. You can start the engine until it reaches operating temperature (always with a good level of antifreeze), to check if it leaks by itself when the cooling system is running.