Since water has a higher boiling temp than antifreeze, would running straight water, or maybe just one gallon of antifreeze in the Spring/Summer time be a good idea?

It's good to have some antifreeze right for anti-corrosion purposes right?

 

Water has better thermal properties than antifreeze. Straight water can pull more heat out of the engine. Using an antifreeze mix will prevent the coolent from freezing in cold weather. It also contains chemicals to prevent the metal from rusting. Antifreeze becomes acidic after a few years. That's why it should be changed every couple of years or have the DCA levels topped up.

Racers will usually use straight water. The main reason is that if there's a leak, the track is easier to clean up. To prevent the metal from rusting, you add in some Water Wetter. It has the chemicals to prevent rust.

 

I've heard that if you run distilled water (pure water, no minerals in it), that the system won't rust. Is this true?

 

For street use you want to use a quality antifreeze mixed in the recommended amount of water.

 

Even in warm weather, where freezing isn't a concern?

 

Yes

 

While you may not experience any calcification of water-borne minerals (like lime, calcium, etc.) distilled, deionized, or even R.O. water will leach metal ions from the engine, allow oxygen to be carried, and eventually lead to corrosion in the cooling system. Unless you have a cast stainless steel block and heads, and a stainless radiator and heater core, you really need to have some corrosion inhibiters mixed in. Conventional antifreeze also contains seal conditioners and lubricants for the water pump.

I have experimented with deionized water, distilled water, and R.O. water in industrial high-power rectifiers and RF power supplies. I discovered (the hard way) that some protection is necessary to prevent metal leaching from even aluminum and stainless steel components. Ion-free water will work as long as it is constantly changed, but the metal components get thinner and thinner all the time until you find just how thin metal can get before leaks occur.

 

Mark,

I'm not sure anyone picked up on this, but water has a lower boiling point than antifreeze, not higher.

 

Mark,

Us who live in the heat are well versed in the application of these things.

Here's what we do:

1. Distilled water
2. Two bottles of water wetter
3. 1 bottle of anit-rust/lubricant


It definitely keeps the cooling temperatures down. Antifreeze does boil at a higher temperature (less quickly) than water but it also retains heat. Just as said above, straight water will basically cool down more quickly than antifreeze. Water Wetter amplifies that cooling it down even more quickly than just straight water.

Where I live it is about 4000 feet elevation so we actually have some cold nights. I recently drained about half of my radiator after the summers use with the above ingredients. It was CLEAN!

Another thing to check............someone had told me this before, but I had no idea of the effects. Get a high flow thermostat! You'll be running more horsepower this next summer than before and it makes a that power gets HOT. Since I swapped my thermostat out for a high flow (even though this is a higher temp stat) my car cools down QUICK!