Go ahead and throw tap water in your coolant system on the regular. Report back on the status of your internals and water pump after a few years. Minerals need to be mined like in StarCraft.

Wow monchie ...

Yes it does, sir.

Is one of the person's name start with "NYCGP" ...? :eek:

Fixed.

you CAN use 100% distilled water IF you added additives like Water wetter/ICE to lube seals and anti-corrosion, freezing is NOT a concern, AND you change it VERY often.

but to ensure "trouble free" operation, 30% is what I would use, minimum

That's the reason why you DON'T want any extra impurities. it's not like your engine will die right away, but I would change it out ASAP.

EG coolant is more about protecting the engine , and it's safer than the old skool stuff they use. Water's superior heat-carring ability is almost 2nd to none. EG is not going to raise the boiling point too much but if you run it at 50/50's boiling point for an extended period of time, your engine won't last anyway.

most of those "quick lube places" even some bigger name garages usually just fill it with water and send u off.

not trying to freak him out but, a properly maintained car will last longer (duh), it's funny that sometimes I visit my friend's garage, some cars pull in with overheating engines and busted radiator. I just asked him like when was the last time you flush your "engine water/coolant", the guy was like "huh? u need to change it? I thought it last forever?" and he has just 90K miles. His bill was like 5K, including complete engine rebuild.

I hate it when that computer lady Tell me "Not enough minerals" when I'm trying to rush. lol

I guess I've never kept a car over 36k miles before so I never worry too much about the 100k plus miles problems lol.

And no I never lease.

Not by a long shot. You're well up among my favorites, along with Monchie.

Never mind my water pump. You ought to see my kidneys.

Ken

Lmao time to flush them out!

Just to confuse the issue further, deionized water is much more corrosive than tap water, and it can't be pumped through copper or steel pipes. However, once you mix it with coolant, it isn't DI anymore.
The issue with hard water is mineral deposits.

If the internals are stainless steel the concern is stress corrosion cracking. Since you can't remove heat or pressure it's basically going to fail at a weak or botched weld regardless of the water type.

Flush which...my favorite members or my kidneys? :evil_laug

Ken

All alloys are prone to corrosion. Don't tell me otherwise because I know I didn't pay $12,000 for 11 credits worth of engineering chemistry, material science, and material strength FOR NOTHING.

^^ yes and no. Corrosion as we typically see it is the oxidation of iron. Remove an element of the corrosion triangle and it doesn't happen.

For alloys such as stainless steel it doesn't see typical corrosion as I pointed out it's prone to stress corrosion cracking caused by free chlorides within the water. Chlorides alone won't do it. Again think of it like a fire triangle in which you have heat chlorides and weakspots or high pressures. Remove one and you won't see corrosion in stainless steels.

181 credits of Engineering suggests to me so. I am no expert in radiators though so I don't know what material we are dealing with in our cars but I would not stress over tap water.

Whoa...what a relief, lol

not much chance anyone is going to pick up deionized water by mistake :lol2:

so to all you lab rats out there... if your car overheats while driving to work dont grab a box of deionized water to top it off :spank:

As far as I remember it's all just Iron and Aluminum

I don't study Engineering so I dunno but what I do know is the less impurities the better. Tap water is called hard water and it's bad for engines for a reason.

It's called hard water only if it's got a lot of minerals. Varies from place to place. NYC has very good water (product of pillaging the Catskills for it) that I wouldn't hesitate to use in a radiator, or even a battery. I've been in places in the western plains and deserts where the water was so full of minerals and alkalai that washing was difficult because soap wouldn't lather. Wouldn't put that in anything. Especially not me, if I could help it.

Ken

The water pump is made of aluminum.

You Gus are killing, can't stop laughing, you did not solve the problem but anyway the white bottle is written coolant only so maybe we must stick to the manufacturer's recommendations.

^Trying to get your post count up? ;) LOL

Aluminum is ver susceptible to pitting corrosion in chloride environments.

Yeah, we used to be pretty entertaining in the old days. But at least we haven't lost the skill of not solving problems. :)

Ken

I'm new in this RX world, bought the car in March 2014 and it's been a learning curve all the way, i used to be a Volvo only driver.