dth0ng69

Okay so When I flused my radiator, and didn't top off my coolant resevior yet. so I mixed 50/50 coolant and water. I mixed Dasani purified drinking water with the coolant. I then read you are suppose to add distilled water with coolant. and the Dasani is "enhanced with minerals for a pure fresh taste" Ingredients read: Water, magnesium, sulfate, potassium.

Is this bad? I havent turned on the car yet so it isn't mixed in yet.. But how bad is it? I added about 7 Oz of the Dasani..

96DelSol

hahaha I honestly dont think it will make a dif, water is water.

dth0ng69

okay cool.. 1 thumbs up.. i kinda want 2 more for assurance....
thanks for the feedback so far.

Former User

I recommend that you drain and refill the cooling system.

Coolant serves two purposes. It cools the engine, and it also contains anti-corrosives that prevent engine destruction by chemical reactions with minerals at high engine temperatures. The water that you added to the coolant contains a relatively large amount of the destructive minerals that you want to avoid having in the engine cooling system.

dth0ng69

okay 1 thumbs up 1 thumbs down.... need 2 more votes for a decision?
if its a tie I'm going to change it for assurance...

dth0ng69

then I do some research and see that tap water has minerals in it also.. wondering If I should just leave it the way it is and do a coolant flush in a few months before winter...

Davus

*casts vote*
Use "distilled" water rather than drinking or tap water. Please flush your cooling system.

waaBAAH

its not that big of a deal that you should be scared to start and drive your car. water is water.

you can literally pee into your radiator if you are stranded with no coolant and it will still cool down the motor.

distilled water is the correct answer but really inst reasonable. tap water will work just fine.

anothersickhatch

Wow. The main reason that coolant, or anti-freeze, exists is to reduce the freezing point of water itself. It prevents the water in your cooling system from freezing, as well as reduces the viscosity of the liquid. This, in turn, slows the flowing of the coolant/water mixture to produce more cooling to the system. It doesn't matter whether you add Dasani, tap water, hose water, drinking water, etc.

Using the water that you used will not do anything to your cooling system. You are worrying for no reason. Another reason that coolant exists is to minimize the electrical current that runs through your motor. Using 100% water could cause problems with your electrical system.

So, in short, DON'T WORRY.

dth0ng69

okay the tech tribe has voted...

and I'm going to leave it.. thinking of flushing it before winter though...

Former User

For those who say that "water is water", why don't you drain your cooling system and add tap water? Answer: The engine will eventually die a slow death from cancerous corrosion.

thecruzs2007@yahoo.com

dude its just water...your car will be fine.

anothersickhatch

We drive Honda engines that rev to 8500 rpm's. Our motors are dying a slow death already.

Former User

Haha...I guess there are many ways to kill a Civic engine if that's your goal. My mission, on the other hand, is to keep my engine alive as long as possible.

EJ2-Fluffy

iTrader: (1)

Minerals in that water will eventually corrode your system. Stick with distilled water or water without any minerals in it. Mix this water with your coolant and call it a day.

Takes what, maybe an hour to drain and refill system? Don't be lazy and call shortcuts.

Your engine will thank you in the long run.

Meatwad99Si

If you flush out and fill your cooling system once a year you could run strait tap water if you wanted, but here in AZ where i think it will be 115 today... We need coolant mixed in for the better cooling properties. Or we overheat, the civic is such a small system. On my corvettes or mustangs i didnt worry about it that much. I would use tap water and 50 percent antifreeze in your car. And flush it once a year.

Former User

Flush the system with what? There's nothing that you could the flush the system with to reverse corrosion caused by minerals in the cooling system. The minerals undergo chemical reactions that eat away the engine metal and leave chemical deposits. For those who don't believe minerals in the cooling system can hurt your engine, please do some background reading on this topic before posting your opinion.

tico

yo you need distilled water no if ands or buts. any minerals mixed with antifreeze in an all aluminum engine is a disaster waiting to happen u actually clogg ur radiator degrade tour hoses and freak up ur pump. just buy oem coolant it has the necessary additives for our engine and a gallon of distilled non drinking water.

Meatwad99Si

By flush i ment empty out. Trust me ive seen lots of damage, like water jackets eating through a intake all the way till it was just pouring out. And ive seen it do the same thing on the heads of the cars. Im talking about the 3.1-3.8 v6 GM engines placed in almost all there late 90s up untill now. The main problem is these cars have the same coolant in them for years and years. Where as other cars of the same kind (all these cars are customers who have came to us for 10 years and i can look up complete history of the car in the computer) who have there systems flushed regularly dont have the same problems. And we use tap water when we do fluses.

Oh and they make flushing fluids for coolant, we use it on a flush, mainly just a detergent to brake up the goo that forms in the cooling system blocking flow. Then we also add a treatment, thats suppose to keep things lubricated and cool better (kinda like water wetter).

All im saying is that if you empty and fill your system atleast once a year you dont have to worry about the negative effects of non-distilled water.

I run a full synthetic coolant in my 07 zx6r race bike. Honda mix in the honda. 50ish 50ish green stuff with tap water in the f-150. Just for comparison.