distilled water VS tap water for cooling system refill

[meltedpanda]

does it matter? distilled VS tap -

[Alkraut]

Go for the distilled water. In many areas the tap water has minerals in it. They can deposit on the radiator walls and other areas and can affect cooling and flow. The distilled water (comes in gallons for steam irons, etc, pretty cheap) also makes it easier to make the 50/50 mixture.

[ScottinSoCal]

Originally Posted by meltedpanda

does it matter? distilled VS tap -

I'd go for either distilled or RO (reverse osmosis) water. The water in my area is about 25 grains of hardness and I don't even put that stuff in me.

[RickM]

You can further protect the radiator with a sacrificial Zinc anode.... http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/tf-Browse/s-10101/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2000879/p-2000879/N-111+200729031+600001645/c-10101

[Ken300D]

I always go with the distilled water that you can find in the local drugstore in one-gallon milk jugs. I started doing that after a purchased a vehicle that came from a particularly hard water area. The inside of the radiator was all limestoned-up and I never got that vehicle to run as cool as it should in hot weather, even with a replacement radiator and after multiple flush sessions. I managed to stop the endless cycle of boiling off water, only to add more limestone solution, followed by boiling off more water, more limestone, etc.

Ken300D

[POS]

Generally speaking, most of America has fairly hard to very hard water, and hard water is not good for a coolant system. If possible, you should use distilled water purchased from the store.

[meltedpanda]

great picked it up today! all of $2.00!
Thanks

[Winsteadi]

You can suspend a 5/8 by 3 inch lag bolt in your radiator and get the same galvanic protection for about 80 cents.

If you want to do it on the cheap.

W

[Winsteadi]

Zinc coated lag bolt of course.

W