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Distilled water in cooling system?

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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 11:00 AM
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Default Distilled water in cooling system?

Was chatting to a mate who says that it is much better to use distilled water in a car's cooling system instead of ordinaly tap water, however he had no actual facts to back this up.

Is it true or not? The only real benefit I can see is less scale build up and will probably keep the header tank etc cleaner. I've got a good supply of it from work, so if it is better for the car, I will use it.

Cheers

Rich
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 11:45 AM
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I use the water from our dehumidifier in mine. Not sure how much of a benefit it is though.
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 12:02 PM
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Water from a de humidifier is de-ionised
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 02:08 PM
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100% pure water is best, whether distilled or de-ionised, basically the same thing.

Water from a dehumidifier is effectively distilled.

Of course you still need some form of corrosion inhibitor and anti-freeze.

Evans coolant is another option.
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 04:52 PM
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Cheers guys, I may as well use it then!
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 07:28 PM
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What about RO (reverse osmosis) water that's as pure as it gets ????
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 08:33 PM
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bit overkill IMO.

Think of the amount of water in a cooling system. Even in a hard water area the amount of crap that will come out the coolant with repeated heat cycling is minimal.

Its not like a kettle where there is a large flow through of fresh material daily. Its generally a sealed system irregularly changed.
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 08:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Psycho Warren
bit overkill IMO.

Think of the amount of water in a cooling system. Even in a hard water area the amount of crap that will come out the coolant with repeated heat cycling is minimal.

Its not like a kettle where there is a large flow through of fresh material daily. Its generally a sealed system irregularly changed.
If you're struggling with coolant performance, every little helps. If it's readily available then there is little reason not to use it.
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 08:58 PM
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though technically beneficial it is still pointless and i doubt you would actually notice any difference whatsoever
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 08:58 PM
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distilled water has less iron in it yes ? so whats the point if your pouring it into an iron engine ?
i use filterd rain water, have done for the last 10 odd years, with antifreeze obv lol
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 09:14 PM
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Originally Posted by stevieturbo
If you're struggling with coolant performance, every little helps. If it's readily available then there is little reason not to use it.
think of the parts per million contaminants in tap water compared to distilled. I doubt the difference between pure distilled water and the filthiest tap water in britain would make any more than a fraction of a degrees celcius difference.

if youre really desperate for a better cooling fluid then use water wetter or one of those silly expensive chemical coolant systems.
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 09:22 PM
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Any time Ive tried water wetter it has made no difference at all. Total waste of money.

Evans coolant is a good product though, just a little expensive.
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 09:41 PM
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What about this waterless coolant?
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 09:43 PM
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Yeah that was on this weeks wheeler dealers. £90 to fill a triumph TR3
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 09:49 PM
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As I said, it is a little expensive, but it is a good product. Whether or not there is any benefit for you is another matter.

For a highly tuned turbocharged engine it is a very good thing to use. For a more mundane car, probably pointless.
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 10:10 PM
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Originally Posted by foci
Yeah that was on this weeks wheeler dealers. £90 to fill a triumph TR3
i was going to post about this i'v never heard of this b4 wander if this would be ok in a erst
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 10:14 PM
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Originally Posted by slimwynn
i was going to post about this i'v never heard of this b4 wander if this would be ok in a erst
It will work in any engine. But unless it's from a dry build, you'll be looking at a few hundred quid before it's up and running by the time you've cleaned the system and flushed before adding the actual coolant.
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 10:21 PM
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Yeah it doesn't boil till 180 degrees

http://www.evanscoolants.co.uk/power...ance-cars.html
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 10:25 PM
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Just looked on eBay £15.99 for prep fluid and £49 for coolant
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Old Oct 20, 2012 | 10:28 PM
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Originally Posted by foci
Just looked on eBay £15.99 for prep fluid and £49 for coolant

No idea where you're getting that price from

Prep fluid is £40 for 5 litres....so you'll need two of those.

And £65 for 5 litres of coolant, again you'll need two of these.
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