Technical Distilled Water For Coolant - Can I Use Tap?

[Andysan]

Bravo drinking coolant like nobodies business - garage advised yesterday when it had a glow plug change that the rad may be leaking and sold me some coolant. Has dropped from max to below min in under 100 miles. Can anyone comment on whether I can mix it with tap water please as I dont know that I can get hold of any distilled water this evening and I get up for work at 6am.

TY.

 

[T14086]

temperatures are well below freezing so water simply is not enough, get the water leak diagnosed and fixed.

 

[Andysan]

temperatures are well below freezing so water simply is not enough, get the water leak diagnosed and fixed.

Hi,

No, I think you misunderstood my question - I have coolant, was just asking if I could mix it with tap water or if it had to be distilled. Either way it's sorted now as the all night garage had some.

Am going to call the garage tomorrow and book it in.

Cheers.

 

[Tad-bravo]

IN NO WAY USE TAP WATER !

Tap water will corrode your engine from inside and you'll end up with a lot worse than a leak.

for your leak try those anti-leak powders, they do miracles sometimes.

 

[T14086]

IN NO WAY USE TAP WATER !

.

do garages use tap water!

 

[T14086]

Hi,

No, I think you misunderstood my question - I have coolant, was just asking if I could mix it with tap water or if it had to be distilled. Either way it's sorted now as the all night garage had some.

Am going to call the garage tomorrow and book it in.

Cheers.

Ahhh sorry mate, well if its leaking out that fast I dont see why not. Is it a 1.4 you have by any chance?

 

[Charnwood Fox]

do garages use tap water!

Who doesn't? In 30-odd years of motoring I've never topped up the coolant system with distilled water.

Most antifreezes contain a corrosion inhibitor. I never run an engine without antifreeze for that reason.

 

[T14086]

Who doesn't? In 30-odd years of motoring I've never topped up the coolant system with distilled water.

my point exactly!

(up here we dont get that scummy scaley crap in our water:devil

 

[RobW]

distilled water best

then bottled water

then tap water

but get the source of the leak fitted and DO NOT USE RAD-WELD!!! :bang:

 

[janjam]

In tap water you have a lot of inorganic/mineral salts dissolved in it. Distilled water does not have that (that’s' the reason why distilled water does not conduct electricity... or in very small amount).
So beside the corrosion, you can have another problem if you put tap water in cooling system, and that is the possible obstruction/stoppage in those small pipes and holes inside the engine by the salts at high temperature after some time.

 

[RobW]

In tap water you have a lot of inorganic/mineral salts dissolved in it. Distilled water does not have that (that’s' the reason why distilled water does not conduct electricity... or in very small amount).
So beside the corrosion, you can have another problem if you put tap water in cooling system, and that is the possible obstruction/stoppage in those small pipes and holes inside the engine by the salts at high temperature after some time.

indeed

but the antifreeze (paraflu) includes corrosion and scale inhibitors

 

[custard]

In tap water you have a lot of inorganic/mineral salts dissolved in it. Distilled water does not have that (that’s' the reason why distilled water does not conduct electricity... or in very small amount).
So beside the corrosion, you can have another problem if you put tap water in cooling system, and that is the possible obstruction/stoppage in those small pipes and holes inside the engine by the salts at high temperature after some time.

it will also depend on the quality of the tap water in your location

 

[Adrian Bravo]

I will always use a mix of antifreeze and distilled water. For the price it is not worth using anything else. I can visibly see how clear a glass of distilled water is compared to my tap water, also chemicals are added to tap water.

 

[RobW]

it will also depend on the quality of the tap water in your location

Hard water in England and Wales
Information from the British Drinking Water Inspectorate shows that drinking water in England is generally considered to be 'very hard', with most areas of England, particularly east of a line between the Severn and Tees estuaries, exhibiting above 200 ppm for the calcium carbonate equivalent. Wales, Devon, Cornwall and parts of North-West England are softer water areas, and range from 0 to 200 ppm.[34] In the brewing industry in England and Wales, water is often deliberately hardened with gypsum in the process of Burtonisation.

Tap water in Manchester in England is soft because it comes from Thirlmere and Haweswater reservoirs in the Lake District, and in their headwaters areas there is not exposed to limestone or chalk.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water"]Hard water - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Hard_water_and_drop.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Hard_water_and_drop.jpg/300px-Hard_water_and_drop.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/b/bb/Hard_water_and_drop.jpg/300px-Hard_water_and_drop.jpg[/ame]

 

[Hellcat]

How about condensate from the tumble dryer?

 

[RobW]

How about condensate from the tumble dryer?

good thinking

 

[Hellcat]

Remember to filter it to get out any fine fluff.

 

[RobW]

Remember to filter it to get out any fine fluff.

and pubes

 

[Andysan]

and pubes

Wouldn't want to have to book mine in over the phone after that:

Service Person: "What seems to be the problem?"
Me: "My pubes are blocking my cooling system."
**Silence**

I got some distilled water - in my normal trip to work & back on Tuesday my cooling tank went from being at max to well below min. Topped up and after the same trip again today I've seemingly not lost any coolant at all. Only difference was on Tuesday I sat in a jam for an hour, whereas today it wasnt so bad.

It's booked in for Monday (as I cant get to the garage before then) and I'm checking the coolant religiously at the end of each trip.

Regarding the distilled water vs tap water issue, I dont claim to be the expert (after all I was the one asking the question) however I read up on it and found that apparently people use distilled water as they think that their car will end up like the inside of their kettle, but in actual fact this wont happen as you're only putting one cycle of water into the tank, whereas a kettle will see a lot more impurities as more water passes through it. Something like that anyway.

 

[neilshep]

How about condensate from the tumble dryer?

Or go outside and breathe into the radiator filler