Coolant Acidity Tests - potential money earner for small shop.Simples ! :-)

I have started doing coolant acidity tests, I bought a cheap set of PH test paper which were cost about £3.50 for 100 I had previously tried a electronic PH probe but tit took to long to zero before use... Using the papers results were interesting I very quickly found one car in which although the coolant tested 45% solution looked and smelled fresh and had part re-fresh with 50% solution it showed acid at a PH of 6.5 on the test paper and the PH meter. As a guide with OAT coolants expect the PH to be in the range 7.3 to 8 older style green/blue coolants 7.8 to 8.5.

The test is quick and simple -- cheap generic PH test strips are all that is required.

Andy.MacFadyen wrote: I have started doing coolant acidity tests, I bought a cheap set of PH test paper which were cost about £3.50 for 100 I had previously tried a electronic PH probe but tit took to long to zero before use... Using the papers results were interesting I very quickly found one car in which although the coolant tested 45% solution looked and smelled fresh and had part re-fresh with 50% solution it showed acid at a PH of 6.5 on the test paper and the PH meter. As a guide with OAT coolants expect the PH to be in the range 7.3 to 8 older style green/blue coolants 7.8 to 8.5.

The test is quick and simple -- cheap generic PH test strips are all that is required.

Thanks for sharing. I've thought about this too. Do you charge for the test or just use it to sell a coolant change?

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

The cost of the PH test is so low it is really about selling a coolant change service, a minimum water flush and fresh coolant change. If you get the coolant service it is going to be 1/2 hour to 45 minutes + the sale of the coolant.
If you offer a low cost pre-winter check you can do a quick battery and alternator test.
Modern battery testers actually predict the life remaining in the battery so you can say to the customer although it is August your battery has only 30% of its life remaining it used to store 75amp hours now only 25 and it might start to give trouble at the first really cold snap. --- You might not sell a battery or alternator on the spot but they will remember when they get a no-crank.