Ten Rules for Maximum Cooling

[RemCharger]

company I use to work for, use to only buy 100% coolant they achieved a 50/50 ratio by running pure water 50% of the year and pure coolant 50% of the year

 

[Geoff 2]

If you need anti freeze because of your climate, you add just enough percentage to prevent the coolant from freezing. AF reduces heat transfer ability to the coolant, so use enough but no more...

 

[Kern Dog]

I've read of people using distilled water or some other treated water in their cooling system.
I never have done this in any car or truck that I have had. I have seen no drawbacks from it either. Is this supposed to be more important in areas with lower quality water?

 

[Demonic]

I've read of people using distilled water or some other treated water in their cooling system.
I never have done this in any car or truck that I have had. I have seen no drawbacks from it either. Is this supposed to be more important in areas with lower quality water?

Yes. Any minerals or dirt in a heat exchanger system will eventually "plate out" - deposit themselves on the tubes of the radiator. This is a slow process in some cases, but it will ALWAYS happen eventually. Distilled water is "pure," no minerals or dirt in it. Well water is chocked full of minerals. Municipal water is often full of calcium and lime from the treatment process.

I have two rules of thumb for Mopar cooling problems -
1. Your radiator is dirtier than you think on the inside. The little bit you see in the cap opening may not tell the story.

2. You need more flow. Factory Mopar thermostats in the 60's and early 70's, the big cup type, had an opening port around 1 7/16" diameter, vs 1 1/8 for a typical Stant thermostat.

 

[themechanic]

I've read of people using distilled water or some other treated water in their cooling system.
I never have done this in any car or truck that I have had. I have seen no drawbacks from it either. Is this supposed to be more important in areas with lower quality water?

Yep. Hard water deposits clog tubes.

 

[CoronetDarter]

I routinely keep 1-2 gallons of distilled water in the garage for topping off the radiators on my cars.
Another tactic for engine cooling at idle is properly advanced initial timing. Most modified engines prefer additional timing, without creating detonation at load.

 

[Geoff 2]

When you buy corrosion inhibitor concentrate, it is usually recommended to use de-mineralised water with it....not distilled water. I guess the DM water has had the minerals removed that might cause corrosion or interfere with the corrosion inhibitor chemistry..

 

[autoxcuda]

When you buy corrosion inhibitor concentrate, it is usually recommended to use de-mineralised water with it....not distilled water. I guess the DM water has had the minerals removed that might cause corrosion or interfere with the corrosion inhibitor chemistry..

I use Reverse Osmosis water. I can usually find it at the grocery store.

I think RO water is a "lesser" De-Mineralized Water.

Careful is an an AI take on this...

AI Overview

Reverse osmosis (RO) water is treated by a semipermeable membrane to remove most dissolved solids, while demineralized (DI) water has its mineral ions removed through an ion-exchange process. RO water is great for drinking and household use because it retains some beneficial minerals, while DI water is a higher-purity product, removing nearly all ions, making it ideal for labs and industrial applications where mineral absence is critical. The primary difference is the level of purity, with DI water being more pure than RO water.