you can go without anti freeze in most of aus, but no anti boil is asking for trouble. They usally have corrosion inhibitors too.
I looked in the manual and it only says anti freeze nothing about anti boil unless that's implied. Ive been running nothing but water for 6 months so I'm kinda tempted to use it just to give it all a flush.
Don't be tempted, do it. One of the zeds worst enemies is a poorly maintained cooling system. It should always have anti boil and anti corosive additived. I think from what I've read demineralised water helps in anti boil and anti corrosion so some extent.
Yup M8, its implied. Anti-freeze is a generic term really. Oh, id not be tempted, Id be forced to add coolant. Coolant (possibly a correct generic term) is in its most basic form, simply a mix of demineralised water and ethylene glycol and some green dye for ID. This e-glycol, in itself raises the boiling point of plain water (anti-boil) lowers its freezing point, (anti-freeze), reportedly increases the "wetting" of the cooling system inner surfaces aiding heat transfer from hot metal to coolant and provides a level of corrosion protection. You can get all funky and mess with the percentage of added coolant and add extra corrosion inhibitors and other radiator additives if you like but the barest minimum is basic coolant with e-glycol Running engines with NO coolant additive (plain water) is a recipie for greatly accellerated rust and corrosion within the cooling system along with the incresased formation of scale which kinda "plates" the inner surfaces of the cooling system and works as a pretty effective insulator slowing the transfer of heat from the colling system innards, into the coolant and then from the coolant off to the outside world. Galvanic corrosion, caused by the differences between the metals used in engines, primarily cast iron, aluminium, steel and brass accellerates in plain water as well. Ill bet you plain water is quite brown already and the rust and corrosion results in sludge forming and settling in the lower areas of the cooling jackets which over extended time, further insulates and retains heat. Have it pressure flushed and refilled with the correct percentage coolant additive M8. Remember, coolant also degrades over time and requires flushing and changing at regular intervals. L8tr E
just to add on to this thread.. use even just anti rust concentrate in your water for this great good reason. my car i brought 4 or so months ago. and its been of the road 3 times because of a bad cooling system. to because of blown hoses and once cause of a heating core leak.now its had nothing but water in it for a long time by the looks(guy i brought it of said he cared for it heaps......makes me thing why did i buy it like it is). simple point here,takes probly 4 to 6 odd hours plus $240 to change the heater core(plus left over with bolts thinking...damn i missed some) it took 3 hours to change the hose that was behind the engine. and finally took 4 hours odd to get to a hose under the throttle body. or $14 for a anti-rust. hhmmmmm
Didn't read the whole thread, but you do realise you are only changing radiator water, and a big percantage of old coolant will remain in the engine, removing the need for using any "pure" water , because it will still be full of crap. A comprehensive flush first would be benificial P.S Rainwater is not distilled water
Yeah guys its all good, didnt use the crap stuff i had laying around went and bought some nulon coolant.
Rainwater is distilled water. It has been distilled by nature instead of in a laboratory, but the principle is the same.
4-6 hours to change the heater core? come round my place and help me out... everyone is saying set aside a weekend..
not entirely. There are a buttload of pollutants in a lot of rainwater. Given that rain clouds form, basically, when tiny dust particles attract water vapour which then gathers in size...one would say that's not distilled. Much cleaner than tap water though for the most part.
