Distilled Water In Radiator

But to answer your question distilled water does not contain sediments that can clog or corrode radiator cooling tubes such as calcium and lime.

Distilled water in radiator. But the problem is that when water is distilled or stripped of its minerals and impurities the resulting solution is composed of chemically imbalanced ions this leaves distilled water ionically hungry so it will actually strip electrons from the metals in a cooling system as it attempts to chemically re balance itself. Putting distilled water in your radiator is a generally accepted practice however i encourage people to opt for soft water over distilled water. In fact there s no one better between them. Probably 10 bucks total counting the few ounces you d add of water wetter since a bottle is good for 12 gallons or something like that.

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. Calcium is a weird metal because as the temperature increases unlike other contaminants the solubility decreases. While the distilled water is superior in terms of heat transfer it also causes corrosion on the cooling system s metal parts. Drain the water from the system.

O reilly auto parts carries radiators water pumps thermostats and. Show more show less step 13. You can use distilled water this time if you re concerned about any remaining minerals from the tap water. Most of it is likely to be calcium the element associated with scale in pipes and radiators.

Many motorists wonder if it is better to use coolant or distilled water for the radiator. Open the petcock to drain the water from the system and make sure you close the petcock when done. My reasoning here is that soft water has a full set of valence electrons whereas distilled water does not. By itself distilled water is much better at heat transfer compared to antifreeze coolants.

However water by itself causes the metal parts in the cooling system to corrode.