Hot Rods Those of you that are running straight water in your radiators ??

Here in Minnesota it is not a issue but we all run antifreeze due to our very cold Winters. Some of u that live down South have mentioned that you only use water in your old cars. May sound like a dumb comparison but,say my Wife uses our tap water in her steam iron it willhave scale&willeventially plug up. Is your water better than ours ?Without a quality water softener in our ba*****t our water is barely tolerable. Are you using(distilled water) or what ? Gene

 

I use antifreeze in all my cars. HRP

 

If you don't want to run Anti-Freeze like "HRP" suggested above, at least consider an additive designed for such use. I use a product called "No-Rosion" that seems to have everything you need; anti-corrosion additive, water pump lubricant, and other "magic" stuff. Seriously, I use it in the coolant for motors on my test stand and it seems to do what it says it does.

 

Think rust ... heat accelerates rust on metal. Anti-freeze has rust inhibitor.

 

I think straight water has a better heat transfer than 50/50 coolant, so there is that for the southern HAMBers. (Please correct me and my info if I'm wrong.) But I don't think anyone who uses straight water did so intending to keep it that way for long. It may get forgotten about and left quite a while, though.

I only use distilled water in my coolant mix, by the way, never tap water.
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I only use Distilled water and mix my own. Never use tap water in anything you care about long term.

 

I only use tap water in mine. Never used distilled water in anything you care about long term.



(you'll see both sides of the argument presented at different places on the internet)

The water here is rather hard, it comes out of the ground below us (we're on a well).

I use antifreeze in all of them..except one, which goes racing, and the guys at the races don't like when someone dumps antifreeze on the track! that one gets some corrosion inhibitor in it, and stays inside when it's freezing out.

 

50/50, on every water cooled thing I own (except the TIG welder).

-0ºF to 110ºF ambient temperature, 10,000ft elevation range. Zero issues, ever.

 

Straight water is also good for promoting electrolysis which is bad.

 

I've been cutting back to about 25% ethylene glycol on mine...but it doesn't get real cold here.

 

I run 50/50 in my cars down here in Florida. In race cars I use Water Wetter and straight tap water.

 

I'll often start a new engine on pure water in the summer but switch them to a 50-50 mixture as soon as the cam is broke in. My race car is drained during the winter. Pocket Nick and the Shift Wizard are both correct.
Pete

 

CORROSION.
Thin, thin copper and aluminum pieces do not have much thickness to sacrifice before seriously expensive probs start.
I only use straight water when I need to get home for a hose repair. All other times I use anti freeze in the mix, even if its a weak mix at times.
I've even used semi-clear creek water once, far far from civilization.

WHY BE ORDINARY ?

 

I won't even drink our tap water let alone run it in a car.

 

Distilled water and a bottle of corrosion inhibitor for 10 years in the Chevy II, same thing in the 32 I had.

 

Probably not a big HAMB issue, but many indoor car show venues don't let you run antifreeze in your car.

 

Years ago I used to run straight tap water. But now "Global Warming" has made our winters in Alabama so cold that it gets too far below freezing to run straight water. I learned that after a head on my tractor cracked in several places when I forgot to drain the water at the start of winter. I don't recall having a rust problem when I did straight water, but water is different in various places.
I do 50/50% in everything now.

 

A lot of places have very hard water, here in KC the water is just full of lime. If were running just water in my cars I would be running a sacrificial anode in my radiator and change it out once a year. JC Whitney actually used to sell them for just that purpose.

I know someone is going to say that I am wrong but water pumps need to be lubricated and water is not a good lubricant. So some sort of additive is in order if one if going to run straight water.

 

Tap water is bad because the additives have an adverse affect of the protective layer anti-freeze provides. That slime feel when your engine has a jacket water additive is protecting from corrosion and erosion.

In the marine medium and low speed big bore world we call it jacket water. Some times I think marketing to the automotive user as anti-freeze has a negative impact on its purpose.

 

here in so cal it gets hot a lot in my hot rods i use all anti freeze no water.....water will eat all alumn parts... intake manifolds... rad ..ect....if you have an alumn rad take the cap off and look in side if you see white spots thats from the water....when the air temp out side is in the high 90s my cars rut at 185to 190 on a cool day they run 175 to 180....bbc and sbf......thats just what i do.....but do what works for you....

 

I use RMI-25 in my hotrods & it keeps them cool, stops corrosion & lubricates. The late model stuff stays with what ever the car mfg recommends.

 

My grandpa told me about the days before antifreeze or alcohol. They drained the water after every drive and would heat it on a wood burning stove before pouring it into the engine. The hot water heated the engine making it easier to start. It didn't make sense to heat the garage when they only occasionally used the truck or car.

They had one tractor that they kept in the barn with the cows. The cows body heat and the insulating hay above them kept the building warm.

 

Our race track says water only. We use distilled only. We remove the aluminum rad after 4 races to clean the dirt from the fins. Never see any corrosion and the block and heads show no rust. There is not any junk in the intake water p***ages either.

 

Times I ran straight water, Id use water wetter as an additive and swap to antifreeze in the winter.

Only reason for straight water, I was racing and tearing things apart on a regular basis. Just easier. The water was very good in the town I lived in so it wasnt a concern.

If you have softened water - would that help in a cooling system? Just wondering.

 

I always giggle when people say they wont use tap water in their radiators but they use it in their bodies which are hopefully more long term than the cars. That said I don't drink water but when I do it's frozen and in bourbon.

In actuality I installed a water treatment system in my home which all the water runs through. No water spots when I wash the cars, no stains on shower gl***, safe to fill the radiators, washing machines and ice makers (very important appliances) last longer and water tastes better.

Funny, I have to add a full bottle of water hardener when I refill the hot tub though.

 

I use whiskey and beer in my radiator. all my cars seem to like it.

 

I don't like warm beer, too... English. Bailey's and Coffee however in the radiator would come in handy on a roadside breakdown or a boring cruise in.

 

When I lived in Arizona I worked at a garage and we had a customer that had been out in the desert and blew a hose . He fixed the hose ,but only had Pepsi to dump into the cooling system.
He made it back to town and brought us the Blazer to fix. All the sugar in the Pepsi cooked to syrup and it was a mess. We flushed everything and replaced all the hoses and thermostat.
It did not hurt the engine long term , but it was a nasty mess to get it right again.

 

Around here it’s 70% water, 30% coolant for me......and tap water is good.

 

Your body has the ability to deal with the minerals in hard tap water, your engine cooling system doesn't. Those minerals form scale on the internal surfaces, which acts as an insulator, reducing the heat transfer efficiency of the cooling system.