This Camaro has been sitting up for four years with city water in it. A given four years can do damage to any car but, it would not have been this bad if they had used distilled water...... I have a lot of work to do to this car!!!!!

 

you mean water mixed with coolant or just water?

 

Haha,well water does that too when someone runs a car for a lengthy amount of time with just water and no antifreeve.
I had a front wheel drive car that a customer brought to me with a leaky waterpump,the guy finally got tired of adding water everyday and decided to get it fixed.
When I pulled the old w/p off the impeller was completely missing and after replacing that,I found pieces of the thermostat floating around in the lower radiator hose!

So yeah folks,don't run your car on water only in the coolant system!
It will cause damage.

 

Antifreeze/CityWater 50/50

 

 

that's why just as a precaution i use filtered tap water. i have a PUR water filter on my faucet in the kitchen- i just go and fill up a few gallons and add that to the antifreeze. you could also just get the 50/50 premix they sell.

 

Distilled water is not that expensive. I use that and anti-freeze 50-50.

 

50/50 antifreeze does take the geusse-work out but do you know where Prestone or whatever company get their water from? The only way you can be sure is to mix the distilled water and antifreeze yourself. It's your motor.... It your call..........

 

I've been doing 30% antifreeze / 70% water right from the hose since I got my first car almost 5 years ago and I've never had any of that crap....!!

 

Distilled water is super cheap.

JamesC

 

Any 50/50 combo will work fine. Almost any antifreeze has plenty of rust inhibitors that will keep your engine from looking like that. Regular maintenace is key though, it is never a fill and forget deal.

 

I was told by a pharmacist that purified water has even less contaminants than distilled water - the pharmacist also said purified water would be perfect for cooling and batteries but not people, with distilled being better for drinking. same price in gallon jugs.

 

I live in FL and I have run my cars on 100% water and I have never had that problem be it with city or well water. I was a little scared with this latest cold snap we had so I put some antifreeze in but I usually don't use the stuff because water is better for cooling.

 

It also has a lower boiling point than 50/50.

 

A slightly lower boiling point compared to water, though water has a greater ability to absorb energy before boiling. (Latent heat of evaporation.)

 

City water purveyors have certain State Health Department regulations they have to follow. Some put more effort in water purification during production and others go for the bare minimum. Like the City where I work, the water from the tap tastes nasty. And the City I live in, it reaks of chlorine. Personally, I spend the extra bucks on distilled water for my car than take chances.

 

Even if your avg coolant temp is below boiling, the local temperatures inside the engine spike well above the boiling point of water. Not having anti-freeze means the water at these points does boil and this produces a pocket of steam. This further increases the problem because now there is no direct water contact. What you get then is a combination of very hot spots forming (stressing the metal) and rusting.

Water is nearly an ideal transporter of heat, but the engine environment needs a compromise, because local temps are just too high. Antifreeze is (and there are several formulas besides ethylene glycol) the best compromise.

btw. As long as you dont have aluminum parts that your coolant goes through, your copper radiator shouldn't cause any electrolysis to occur.

 

I think you have it backwards, with purified water being better to drink and distilled being better for batteries. True distilled water has no contaminants in it and is pure water.

 

Hell, I love my car enough that if worse came to worse, i'll throw some Evian in it.