Distilled Water In My Radiator

The short answer is that it s a bad idea to pour pure water into your radiator no matter what your climate conditions are.

Distilled water in my radiator. Most if not all cars manufactured in the past 10 years do not recommend using water in the radiator but use specialized coolants that supposedly never need to be replaced. However water by itself causes the metal parts in the cooling system to corrode. Instead of freezing and cracking your engine block at 32 degrees fahrenheit a half water half coolant mix has a freezing point of negative 34 degrees. While the distilled water is superior in terms of heat transfer it also causes corrosion on the cooling system s metal parts.

A 50 50 mix of coolant and water also lowers the freezing temperature and raises the boiling point of the water in your car s radiator. A proper coolant mixture is essential to the proper operation of your engine s cooling system and to its long life. But to answer your question distilled water does not contain sediments that can clog or corrode radiator cooling tubes such as calcium and lime. By itself distilled water is much better at heat transfer compared to antifreeze coolants.

The boiling point takes a healthy jump from 212 degrees to 265 as well. Many motorists wonder if it is better to use coolant or distilled water for the radiator. While it is certainly true that distilled water s purity prevents electrolysis and scale deposit formation it unfortunately comes with a potentially very damaging side effect.