Technical Engine Coolant - Distilled/De-Ionised Water?

[Joelz0rz]

Hey all,

Just purchased my first car last week.
It's a 2005 Fiat Punto 1.2 8v
Only 44k miles on it (1 old lady owner, full service/MOT history)

Unfortunately when I was doing my level checks on it, I discovered my Engine Coolant was quite a bit under the "high-low" markings.

The car is 7 years old, and I don't believe the coolant has ever been replaced.

Now, I'm a complete noob when it comes to cars.
I've read the users handbook and I've found out my car takes Paraflu Up (Red/Pink) and Distilled water at a 50/50 ratio.

I've gone to a Fiat Dealership and bought 2ltrs of Paraflu, however I can't for the life of me find "Distilled Water".

I've looked, and can only find De-Ionised water. I've purchased this (as it was cheap) and am wondering whether it would do any damage to my car if I used this instead?

To ensure it's not a leak, I want to just top it up with water and ensure it doesn't suddenly disappear before going down the route of completely changing it with the new engine coolant and finding there's a leak..

Would my car be okay if I place De-Ionised water into the car instead of Distilled?
I believe I've got the original Paraflu/Distilled water in their currently and wasn't sure if adding it was going to cause any adverse effects.

Many thanks for any help.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Will be ok with either, but will water down the mix obviously.

 

[TONY55S]

hi,next time just buy the ready mixed coolant,and u wont need any water.
If the coolant has never been changed its worth changing,but you must bleed the air out of the system,there are 2 bleed screws ,one on the top of radiator and one on the water pipe that goes into heater.
If your not sure how to do it get ur mechanic to do it,very important to keep that coolant changed at least every 3 years.

 

[Joelz0rz]

Thanks for the response.
I hope you don't mind me firing a few more questions at you.

From my searching online, it appears that Distilled water is "pure" and De-Ionised removes all the ions/minerals except Chlorine which corrodes metal. Surely that's bad for the engine?

From my amateur estimates, it looks like I might need to put in close to 400ml of De-Ironised water to bring it up just above the low reading, which will water it down a fair bit.

My car's a 4.2Ltr capacity, would making it 40/60 in terms of coolant/water cause any issues?

Thanks again for any help

 

[Joelz0rz]

hi,next time just buy the ready mixed coolant,and u wont need any water.
If the coolant has never been changed its worth changing,but you must bleed the air out of the system,there are 2 bleed screws ,one on the top of radiator and one on the water pipe that goes into heater.
If your not sure how to do it get ur mechanic to do it,very important to keep that coolant changed at least every 3 years.

I was tempted by that, but when I done further digging yesterday - it appeared the stock Paraflu Up was better quality and lasted up to 5 years (Not to mention being a my first car, I wanted to follow the instruction booklet exactly).

And here I was thinking purchasing the coolant was the hardest part, oh how I was wrong.

Thanks for letting me know about the bleed out system. I'll probably get a mechanic to sort it out, pass him the coolant stock I have and ask him to do it for me - Don't have the confidence yet to do it manually.

 

[fingers99]

Most people just use tap water (with anti freeze, of course!). AFAIK, tap water isn't chlorinated, but florinated.

The anti-freeze should contain all the anti-corrosion protection you need, if changed at recommended intervals.

Remember, you're driving an elderly Punto with a cast iron block and an aluminium alloy cylinder head, not a post historic Alfa or Ferrari with a magnesium engine which is virtually irreplaceable!

40/60 should be fine unless you live north of Glasgow.

Keep an eye on the level. Follow the advice on bleeding.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Thanks for the response.
I hope you don't mind me firing a few more questions at you.

From my searching online, it appears that Distilled water is "pure" and De-Ionised removes all the ions/minerals except Chlorine which corrodes metal. Surely that's bad for the engine?

From my amateur estimates, it looks like I might need to put in close to 400ml of De-Ironised water to bring it up just above the low reading, which will water it down a fair bit.

My car's a 4.2Ltr capacity, would making it 40/60 in terms of coolant/water cause any issues?

Thanks again for any help

Tbh your doing this as a temp thing I take it to find out if there is a leak? If its never been changed then that'll need going ASAP imo. If so, adding a small bit of water isn't going to have much of an adverse affect.

Regarding the water used, don't worry to much, I used to use tap watch without issue.

Just top it up for now to see if it drops, if it doesn't then do a complete change and flush in a few weeks

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

hi,next time just buy the ready mixed coolant,and u wont need any water.

Can't get Paraflu ready mixed can you?

Needs to be changed every 2 years if the blue stuff, or can be left upto 5 years with certain red coolants

 

[s and b]

i would suggest a top up with neat fiat stuff to the high water mark then get someone like quickfit to do a refractor test on it for free to ascertain minimum 12% below freezing cover
then monitor the leak if it actually has one

 

[atom0007]

as said, don't get hung up about the water.

Deionised water doesn't stay deionised for long.
And your distilled won't stay pristine for too long either.
What do you think a standard garage will do?

The coolant has the rust inhibitors in it that are needed. And some pink or blue colouring

You're worrying about the wallpaper when you've got no roof if your coolant is low....

 

[Ziggy122]

Mixed tap water and Anti-freeze no problems

I Buy a Big 5L
So i get 10L when im done
Plenty for a Fill or 2 with some extra for a top up

When flushing i cheated and used the hose pipe

Ziggy

 

[Brendan W]

Fact that you're even bothering to change it out puts you ahead of the game already. Lot's use tap water , rain water. Any water is better than no water and you can spilt hairs over deionised , double distilled , deionised and then distilled , double distilled blah blah. Generally if the concentration is ok the antifreeze protection is good but if you really want to know when the rust inhibitors are done for you need to put a voltmeter in the coolant or just change it out as per schedule.The cleaner the water you start with the longer life the inhibitors will have. I use deionised or premix. Many labs use deionised but everyone calls it distilled because that was what they used in their grandfathers time. Just like we all still buy fan belts.