Overheating problem.

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by digital rules

So ALL these people quoted are either wrong or snake oil salesman, even Pat Goss? I doubt it.

You can do what you whatever you want to your car, but I will spend the extra 2 dollars to give my car what the manufacturer recommends.

The manufacturer will do and say what benefits the manufacturer most. Others will repeat such things on the web like parrots. The corporate interests of the industry is above yours. You can follow along blindly, without questioning or thinking critically, parroting what you heard, if you wish.

Do as you please. Even if it means following an Emperor wearing "new clothes". In the realm of the Emperor of the fable, all the adult subjects agreed with the Emperor - except for the children who questioned what they saw and knew falsehood when they saw it.

[Xist]

Is that an anti-nudist remark?

But for now, rest well and dream of large women.

[RedDevil]

Umm. The difference between distilled and tap water is the mineral content and gases in the latter.
These are mere fractions.
Yes, they will form a deposit in the system, but you'd never notice.
Once the water has shed its fractional deposit, it is free of it and can deposit no more.
Same for the oxygen in the water. Something will rust and use up all the oxygen, stopping further oxidation.
You wouldn't fill the closed loop of your CV system with distilled water, would you?

In a system where you continuously have to heat and refill like a steam iron there you should use distilled water, otherwise you'd chalk up the boiler inside it or get the occasional chalk squirts on your clothes.
(me mom told me so before there was an interweb!)

Enter the poor soul replenishing his leaky radiator every day from the tap. Inevitably over time deposits do build up and the system fails.
If his manual says it is OK to use tap water he sues the manufacturer, so it does not.
If he diligently refills it with distilled water he can continue doing so until the cam belt breaks or he runs out of oil, or whatever. It won't be the radiator clogging.

Somehow the wisdom of using distilled water in water replenishing systems boiled over to non replenishing systems.
Mix in some OEM liability and "better safe than sorry" and you have an urban legend.

XYZ is right.
You can fill your radiator with a mix of antifreeze and tap water (but not every day ).

[Baltothewolf]

It only costs me one dollar for a gallon of distilled water, which can fill and burp my system twice (when mixed 50/50 with antifreeze). I would rather have the piece of mind of spending that fifty cents of water. Thank you though guys for your insights.

[digital rules]

Originally Posted by XYZ

I am the man who questions everything.

You looked on the internet, and you found "universal recommendation" there.

This brings to mind the old adage of "It MUST be true. I read it on the internet!"

That aside, now consider this question: before the internet existed, cars ran on antifreeze/coolant mixed with plain, tap water, with no problems from that. I've been doing that for 40 years or so. Two of my cars are over 20 years old, still run reliably and are roadworthy.

I assume you are young and believe what you read without questioning; but regardless - do you think that the tap water, mixed to dilute the formerly, only available, concentrated anti-freeze is in any way detrimental to the cooling system or the engine? Or do you accept the theory of it being somehow detrimental on "universal" belief?

Question #2: Assuming that it might possibly be detrimental (although there is no proof) do you think it would matter regarding the longevity of any component of the cooling system? Or would those components age and eventually fail anyway, due to eventual and inevitable age and mileage?

To quote from one of your sources of wisdom:

That is NOT distilled water! It's BS mixed with ignorance. Maybe we should consider calling it "holy water", because it's based upon belief, not fact.

Hey, if I were in the business of selling and marketing distilled water (or blogs based on misinformation, or promoting urban legends), I'd want everyone to believe and buy it, too!

All this commotion over 1, or maybe 2 dollars. OK, YOU WIN, so PLEASE let it go.

[Xist]

I do not know who said this first, but feel that it is accurate:

I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.
I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by XYZ

I am the man who questions everything.

There is no problem with questioning everything. There is a problem questioning everything and sounding like a jerk while doing it which you seem to be quite fond of. I tell a lot of people they're wrong on the forum, but people don't seem to report my posts nearly as often as yours. Just be nice. What is so hard about that?