Replacing Cooling System With Distilled Water

[Tham]

I finally sold off my beloved Corolla KE70 a couple
of weeks ago after 14 years of ownership, and have
borrowed my elder brother's 1997 Proton Saga to use
in the meantime.

It has the 1,298 cc Mitsubishi 4G13 SOHC engine. Pretty
much underpowered with heavy fuel consumption.

I'm thinking of replacing the water in the cooling system
with distilled water, since this tends to cause lesser scaling
and rust.

If possible I would not want to unscrew the radiator's bottom
drain plug, nor pulling out the bottom hose, to avoid possible
leaks later on.

Could it be done via several times via the expansion or
overflow plastic tank, which holds about one liter, with the
expansion/contraction over a few days of running exchanging
the water ?

The other option might be to suck out some coolant from the
top of the radiator, replace it with distilled water, run the engine
a bit, then repeat. That would be very tedious though, since
only about 300 ml or 10 fluid ounces could be replaced each
time !

Thanks to the good people here who have helped me maintain
the old faithful with much good information over the years.

[Dale]

Unless you want to change out the fluid in the expansion bottle about 100 times, just undo the drain plug or pull the bottom hose. If the hose is going to start leaking from taking it off and putting it back on... it's time to replace it anyway.

Also why don't you put proper corrosion inhibitor/coolant/antifreeze in it? It's designed to prevent the decay of cooling systems.

[Tham]

Thanks for the info. Wow, didn't realize it would have to
be repeated that many times !

Will go ahead and take out the drain plug or hose.

Yes, I would be adding in coolant in, but the distilled water
would help with lesser scaling.

Any recommendations on an extra corrosion inhibitor to go
along with the coolant ?

Holts Anti-Rust is common on the shelves in Malaysia here.
I've also seen Gold Eagle around.

[broken22]

While using distilled water may be slightly better for corrosion than non-distilled water, due to less current flow from impurities, it is not a great idea.

Proper radiator coolant has a higher boiling point than water and contains additives designed prevent corrosion.

If your car has water in the cooling system now I recommend removing the radiator and back flushing it and the rest of the system fully, the refilling with automotive coolant.

[Casey-G]

I am led to believe the nulons pre-mixed coolants are already mixed with distilled water..



I think, but not 100% sure

[maurice c]

If your going to change the coolant you may as well change the hoses as well, it will save you some bother in the future. They are not that expensive at all.

[mookschank]

I've read that distilled water absorbs oxygen and carbon dioxide and thus promotes corrosion. Unless the water in your area is very hard, just go for tap & coolant or pre-mix....

[LeeRoy]

I've read that distilled water absorbs oxygen and carbon dioxide and thus promotes corrosion.

But who runs oxygen or carbon dioxide in their cooling system??

The point of distilled water is that it is absent of minerals, and this is what accelerates corrosion.

[oldcorollas]

it is more the salts..

to be honest, changing the coolant via the expansion tank is a stupid idea.
undo drain plug, lt allt he coolant out, replace with coolant, or distilled water with corrosion inhibitor and anti-boil additive, and drive away.

why not use toyota red coolant?

[MWP]

Agreed, using straight distilled water is not a good idea.
While it will prevent corrosion for a little while, it will eventually become "dirty" and promote corrosion.

Using a red coolant concentrate and mixing with distilled water will do what youre after.

[RiceburnaGTV]

Mate I sell a product that will completly rid your engine of all scaling.I have partnered up with a company by the name of Liquid intelligence http://www.liquidintelligence.com.au/ and resell their stuff on top of my own range of coolants that was developed by them specifically for alloy radiators.

Its a lenghtly process, 3hrs with the first step and 15mins with the second but it will remove ALL and I mean ALL the previous gunk that has built up over the years from people only putting in water instead of coolant. I have used it myself on my daily pulsar that was overheating and it savd me from having to buy a radiator,the top hose was hard rom the corossion inside and the water when flushed after the first treatment came out brown! There are a couple of people on here that have also used this with the same success.

I have enough here for a single use for $50 and I can also sell you a 5L concentrate coolant for $55 that will more than cover what you need with probably enough spare for another car.You only need tap water with my coolant as it levels out its own PH with tap water.

Swing me a PM if your keen.

cheers
Nath

[mookschank]

But who runs oxygen or carbon dioxide in their cooling system??

The point of distilled water is that it is absent of minerals, and this is what accelerates corrosion.

There will always be carbon dioxide from the distillation process, turns into carbonic gas, and oxygen it's always there too (as they ain't minerals).

If people want to spend on money on distilled water for hardly a marginal gain over soft tap water, great...Coolant mix does nearly all the corrosion inhibition....Unless you put sea water in with it

[trdee]

coolant + tapwater is fine for corrosion, distilled water will help with scaling though. its the minerals in the tap water which form scaling

scaling =/= corrosion. the OP is asking about how he can reduce scaling, not corrosion

[mookschank]

He did ask about scaling and reducing rust and rust = corrosion.

Scaling forms more from hard water and yes if Malaysia has hard water, better to use filtered or purified water with the coolant.....

I find the water in Melbourne pretty soft and scaling is less of an issue.

[cambelt]

Riceburner, i cant see any product shifting years of scale from a cylinder head , I mean scale that you have to chip off to get it off . Tell me im wrong .
Dave