I'm running straight water in my cooling system. It's gets some anti-freeze before it gets put up for the winter but the thermal properties of water allow it to cool faster than a 50/50 mix and as long as you don't allow it to get over 212* you are fine.

Also I heard that if you blow a head gasket at the track that you might eat your bearings if you get coolant in there. But water won't hurt them at all.

-Lars

 

Keep in mind that water is corrosive. Part of what anti-freeze does is inhibit some of the corrosive nature of H2O.

If I were you I'd find some type of corrosion inhibitor to run with your water if you don't want to run anti-freeze in the summer.

 

If you are running just water, you should be running Water Wetter. It stops corrosion, keeps you water pump lubed, and actually lowers your temp about 20 degrees compared to plain water. The stuff is awesome. Like the above post says, your going to corrode you cooling system and wear out your pump running plain water.

 

I think running distilled water, not tap water is the way to go...along with a Prestone additive for water pump lubricant and corrosion inhibitors. Also, if you will be flushing the system a few times a year when you change water to coolant for winter protection, why not?

And yes, water definitely is much better for heat transfer than coolant. If you wanted to make it easier, just run an 80/20 mix or 85/15 mix of mostly water...probably easier and cheaper than the additive.

 

I have heard that if you have an A\C car that running straight water might cause the heater core to freeze and bust??

 

In the 1st post, he says it will be for track use in the spring, summer and fall...

And yes, water will freeze, allowing the block/heads/radiator/heater core to crack.

This is along the lines of using water as a coolant, not antifreeze...

 

This is a pretty good board!

All good points fellas! I am running distilled water and water wetter and the system gets flushed twice a year. I have disconnected my heater so I don't have a heater core to worry about. When I store it for the winter it is usually an 80/20 mix. it's been in single digits for days(while stored) at a time and no probs to speak of.


-Lars

 

I second the motion on that. Cheap is good.

Chet

 

geez yall live in some cold areas lol once in a great while it gets cold enough to freeze in texas but not very often

 

Yeah, it is pretty cold up here in MN...my fingers, toes and nipps just thawed out in early May



I have seen cracked blocks from a poor antifreeze mix so it can be an issue here during the winter....

 

In my area we have really hard tap water which causes calcium bulid-up. I was using it before I realized how much damage was being done.
I started running filtered rain water a few years back with abt 30% Prestone.
Abt 2 months ago my radiator in my 95 Chev truck developed a crack in the plastic radiator water tank. When I took it to the radiator shop, I watched him pull the tank off. I was pleasently suprised at how clean the tube ends looked.
The calcium build-up not only blocks the passages, but also hinders the heat transfer from the water to the radiator.
What ever you do, don't use hard tap water!

The heater core should not freeze with A/C on. If the evaporator gets below freezing the water in the air would condense and freeze on the evaporator blocking air flow.