Do i have to use distilled water in my coolant system?

[gavink]

Hi all :)

Read through alot of coolant threads on this forum and have decided to go and get some glycol based anti-freeze from halfords..while im there should i get some distilled water to mix with the anti-freeze or is normal tap water ok.. :)

[allstaruk]

Tap water is fine, distilled water is used in your battery, might be worth getting some water wetter though. Sounds made up so here' s a link (http://www.redlineoil.com/products_coolant.asp) I have heard good things about this.

[allstaruk]

Tap water is fine, distilled water is used in your battery, might be worth getting some water wetter though. Sounds made up so here' s a link (http://www.redlineoil.com/products_coolant.asp) I have heard good things about this.

Al

[memski]

I wouldn't use tap water in my coolant system, I've got some deionised/distilled water from halfords - 'tis only a couple of quid.

[mullins]

I've always used tap water and never had any probs, but I have noticed there is a lot of lime in london water (it stains the taps, kettle, etc) so maybe best to go with the halfords distilled stuff?

[scooby_si]

as above it aint expensive so why not use the battery top up stuff cant hurt.....although that is a pints worth of beer money sod it :D
Si

[Mark Ide]

yup, I'm in London and we always put deioinised in our cars

[Mave]

The water in Bristol's quite hard so I always use DI - a few quid every few years seems a small price to pay to avoid filling the engine / radiator / turbo coolant passages with calcium deposits......

[Donato]

Living in Scotland its not even an issue, tap water in the car and tap water in the belly! ;)

[bobster]

Living in Scotland its not even an issue, tap water in the car and tap water in the belly! ;)

And we normally bring our own taps when we come down south ;)

[mullins]

Living in Scotland its not even an issue, tap water in the car and tap water in the belly! ;)

I put it in my belly, just not my car :eek

[Donato]

I put it in my belly, just not my car :eek

There is something not quite right there... :chat

[Bobfish]

you should always put distilled water in the car. Anything else causes build up and corrosion of the internal engine parts and can ultimately lead to the coolant seal retaining grooves in the end/centre plates to corrode through. This = engine rebuild, plus a new end plate - circa 3k.

Are you willing to take that change for a £3 bottle of water?

[Iwan]

you should always put distilled water in the car. Anything else causes build up and corrosion of the internal engine parts and can ultimately lead to the coolant seal retaining grooves in the end/centre plates to corrode through. This = engine rebuild, plus a new end plate - circa 3k.

Are you willing to take that change for a £3 bottle of water?

agree to Bobfish....

please use destilled water! Many people say, destill water is agressive and can make your engine ill due to chemical processes, but heh dude, you mix it with antifreeze, do you? Destilled water will be mixed with antefreeze and chemical reaction will become no issue!

REgards
Iwan

[mullins]

Iwan, I thought you'd been drinking until I saw your location :evillaugh

[Iwan]

Iwan, I thought you'd been drinking until I saw your location :evillaugh

nobody is perfect, heh, my english as well :)

REgards
Iwan

[RobbieRX-7]

use clean rainwater

[DFLROWLAND]

had a look at the water wetter link but when i clicked on the dealer link to find a price etc i found nothing. where can you get water wetter & how much is it?

[Mark Ide]

@ Iwan: it's a damn sight better than my German :)

@ Robbie: how clean is YOUR rainwater? we have plenty of crap and pollutants here in London and it's probably acidic anyway:(
Mind you, you could have a pretty cool bonnet scoop to catch it:)