tap water in a 50/50 MIX = BAD?

[txtruck]

just got finished pulling the heads for a cam swap and i had to drain the radiator. when i filled her back up i just realized i used tap water when i mixed it 50/50 for maybe 2 gallons or a tad more of added coolant mix. is it worth the worrying over for the small amount of tap water? worth the money for a full flush??

 

[Chris142]

Depends on the water in your area. Hard water is not good because it will plug up the tubes ocasionally.

 

[XS650]

What Chris said.

As long as you water isn't super hard, filling it with tap water once shouldn't be a big deal.

Every time you add tap water or change you coolant and use tap water, the crud builds up, so it would be best to use a distilled water coolant mix to do any topping off and for you next scheduled change.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

I have always used distilled water...but I used to work for a place that mixed everything with tap...Not once did anybody ask what we mixed coolant with? I think okay for now...but next time use distilled...

 

[unDummy]

Water quality varies so much that saying it is good or bad is impossible without testing.

My recommendation is that you consider the tap water fill as a temp solution. Keep an eye on recover bottle buildup, and change it out in a year or 2, depending on driving style. Do not consider it a lifetime, 5year, 100-150k fill. It isn't!

In the future, use distilled water or just buy the antifreeze that is premixed.

For a simple test, borrow a pan or pot from the little lady, fill it with a gallon of your tap water, and boil that pot empty on her kitchen stove. The buildup leftover in that pot is what you added to your cooling system.

I own my own small water distiller. And, I tell you that I would NEVER use the local well or city water here, unless it was a critical coolant emergency.

 

[TBJ]

Distilled water is cheap.

 

[Kestas]

The calcium in tap water is a mild poison to the cooling system.

 

[Hooch]

The distilled water at the grocery store has ozone in it. I suppose that's fine if I want to drink it, but will it cause problems in my engine?