Coolant and Distilled Water

[RavenTai]

wile we are talking about cooling systems deposits: how do you remove them ?


I am possibly going to buy a used car soon, the Toyota I am thinking of has a history of "gray sludge" accumulating in the cooling system, and overheating in some cases, surely the previous owner/shop would have used tap water of an unknown quality (if the coolant was ever even changed) and there is likely to be rust and scale in the iron block and aluminum head along with this “gray sludge”

are cooling system flushes safe? The most common product I see in auto stores for cleaning cooling systems is Prestone “Super Flush”, is it effective in removing deposits? I have used it in the past and haver never seen an improvement from what I can see in the radiator from the cap but perhapses it does help the block? Perhapses I should have left it in longer?

Is there some other product I should consider? Or none at all?

 

[Cressida]

quote:

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Originally posted by RavenTai:
wile we are talking about cooling systems deposits: how do you remove them ?

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Citric Acid is what I use to flush - but only on a system with lots of problems/deposits. Otherwise just water.

I would say do NOT use this or any chemical flush through the heater core of a Toyota. You do not want to risk damaging the heater core. Also be careful pulling on the heater hoses that go to the core. Don't want to screw up the pipe fittings that go to the core either.

My heater core started to leak after I flushed it with the citric acid. It took me over 3 days to change it out!

As for as water, I use rain water with good results. Don't mess with Mother Nature.

[ November 18, 2003, 09:06 AM: Message edited by: Cressida ]

 

[eljefino]

My well water is about ten miles as the crow flies from the Poland Spring bottling plant, and fifteen from another one. So I don't mind mixing it with 100% Ethylene Glycol.

Now my grandpa's water in Ohio, tastes like it has alka-seltzer already in it! It could cure acid reflux, I swear...

I'll leave it up to the silicates etc deliberately put in the antifreeze to protect my cars.

 

[Dr. T]

I don't think there's any sure-fire and safe way of removing the deposits...just do a couple frequent flush and refills with good quality O.E. (if applicable) coolant. Otherwise note that you may need a new rad down the road (as you would anyways)...

 

[TC]

The "Texaco" comments above refer to "Havoline Extended Life Antifreeze Coolant," a propylene glycol-based coolant. They comment that even water with up to 500 ppm chlorides and sulfates is essentially "acceptable" for use with their coolant. The area where I live is known for hard water (I know this is a very relative term), and the muni water quality reports I have indicate chlorides ranging from 25-108 ppm, and sulfates from 28-336 ppm. This anecdotally suggests that, at least for my stomping grounds, our hard water would be "acceptable" for some/many/most brands of coolant, and possibly the same for many other communities known for moderately "hard" water..??? A pretty big jump to a conclusion here, but not an unreasonable jump I would think -- I'd love feedback from someone with a strong chemistry background. Texaco's guidelines would explain why coolant websites such as Prestone's and AC Delco's don't specify a given type of water, since many "hard" waters, while not optimal, are acceptable. I'm sure the coolants are formulated to take potentially high water mineral concentrations into account. That said, distilled's goin' in my radiator next time around!

[ November 18, 2003, 01:23 PM: Message edited by: TC ]

 

[digitaldrifter91]

why cant u use a 50/50 mixture bought at the store to ensure pure cooling and efficiency?

 

[Kestas]

... because it's more expensive than mixing it yourself, especially for the folk who have inexpensive access to distilled water.

 

[JohnnyO]

Depends on the water where you live I think, but I started using distilled a few years ago after having to get my rad soaked and cleaned at a rad shop AFTER YEARS of flushing the coolant EVERY YEAR. Hmm, must not be the antifreeze I says to myself. FWIW my son had all kinds of digestive difficulties when he was a baby on different formulas. We started using bottled drinking water, ended up using the BYOB filtered stuff at the grocery store, and he was fine after that.

 

[White Fang]

The reason you can't use ready mixed 50/50 coolant is that there is always some water left from the flush and you will wind up with less than a 50/50 mix. It is also a little more expensive. Here's what my Cadillac owner's manual says, "Use a 50/50 mixture of clean, drinkable water and DEX-COOL." I figure distilled water is "clean, drinkable water" so if I have to add coolant that's what I will use even though my water is from Lake Michigan and not that hard. Distilled water is not that expensive, why take a chance?

 

[RavenTai]

thanks for the replies, I guess I will just change it out on a regular basis (with distilled water) and hope nothing goes wrong

 

[Drew99GT]

I mix my antifreeze 50/50 with MUD. That way, the corossion in my cooling system will stay put and I will never have to buy a new radiator

 

[RussellA]

quote:

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If its safe to drink, its ok for the cooling system.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NO, NO, NO. Well water, with so much iron, calcium, and who
knows what other compounds that you can see it, will not hurt your
body. Too much of it, and it may not taste that good, but it won't
hurt you.

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As someone who has had a history of kidney stones I have to disagree. It hurts, it hurts like you wouldn't believe! FYI most kidney stones and all of mine are calcium oxalate.

 

[novadude]

JohnnyO.... I see you are familiar with that good ole' Pittsburgh water! lol

 

[Amkeer]

Use distilled if you want long coolant system life!


Daily Drives:
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner XtraCab, Impulse Red, Peppy 2.7 Liter 4 Banger, Running Mobil1 Synthetics SS 5W-30.
ODO 5800 Miles.
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner, Evergreen, 3.0 V6, Running Mobil1 Synthetic SS 10W-30.
ODO 82000 Miles. (Switching to GC next)Nope sticking with M1.
http://www.geocities.com/amkeer3/Dailydrives.html

 

[theguru]

Rain water purity is dependant on where you are. The rain picks up the impurities and gases from the air. Just look what the acid rain has done to the buildings of Athens and other places.

Stick with the demineralised water. Cheap anyhow.

 

[Kestas]

quote:

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Originally posted by RussellA:
As someone who has had a history of kidney stones I have to disagree. It hurts, it hurts like you wouldn't believe! FYI most kidney stones and all of mine are calcium oxalate.

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I've seen high-mag micrographs of kidney stones. They look like shards of glass. OUCH!!

 

[JohnnyO]

quote:

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Originally posted by novadude:
JohnnyO.... I see you are familiar with that good ole' Pittsburgh water! lol

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Actually I live in Beaver County, water in my town is not too bad, in other towns here it can be real hard though. Where I live nobody's heard of so I just say Pittsburgh.

 

[John K]

I remember reading that Mercedes was against using distilled water because of the high dissolved oxygen content, but it never made sense to me since it is mixed with AF and its corrosion inhibitors. I have always used distilled water, and believe that the corrosion inhibitors in the antifreeze would best protect the system if not compromised with dissolved solids from tap water. At the power plant where I worked we had lined pipe or stainless pipe on the demineralizer. The boiler was treated with ammonia and hydrazine. Latest treatment (for supercritical boilers) actually use ammonia and inject oxygen!!!

 

[John K]

TC - The quote from Fleetworld is totally off base. There is no relationship between hardness/softness and pH. Almost all water is very close to a pH of 7.0 no matter what the pH is........

 

[John K]

Ooops, I meant Fleetwatch.