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How Long To Refill Cooling System?


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#1 luismx123

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Posted 09 August 2018 - 10:29 PM

hey guys, 
As posted before I had an overheat a few days ago. Now its been running fairly fine and not losing too much water. My question is: when should I add a coolant/drain the system and refill with distilled water?
Its basically full of bottled water atm...

cheers



#2 nicklouse

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Posted 09 August 2018 - 10:32 PM

as soon as you can. or when ever you have time.



#3 luismx123

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Posted 09 August 2018 - 10:36 PM

as soon as you can. or when ever you have time.

 how bad is it if i leave it for ....a month?



#4 Icey

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Posted 09 August 2018 - 10:44 PM

If it has water in, you'll be fine until the weather gets cold and you risk freezing. Coolant does inhibit corrosion but you're not going to cause any problems in the short term.

Edit: Life's to short for distilled water. Tap water is fine for an engine.

Edited by Icey, 09 August 2018 - 10:45 PM.


#5 Avtovaz

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Posted 09 August 2018 - 10:48 PM

stick your finger in the coolant, taste it, if its sweet, its got some antifreeze left in it.

 

 

tap water is the only water ive ever used!



#6 luismx123

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Posted 09 August 2018 - 10:57 PM

stick your finger in the coolant, taste it, if its sweet, its got some antifreeze left in it.

 

 

tap water is the only water ive ever used!

nah its pretty much only tapwater. The radiator was bone dry when I overheated (still havnt found the leak -.-)
I think ill remove all the pipes and reseat what I can. got no gaskets for the thermostat tho -.- 
 



#7 zero_wlv

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Posted 09 August 2018 - 10:59 PM

stick your finger in the coolant, taste it, if its sweet, its got some antifreeze left in it.

 

 

tap water is the only water ive ever used!

 

Erm,  I know we're only talking about a small quantity here,  but aren't ethylene glycol and methanol supposed to be highly toxic?   And since antifreeze is often treated with Bitrex it may not taste sweet anyway.



#8 Avtovaz

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Posted 09 August 2018 - 11:01 PM

 

stick your finger in the coolant, taste it, if its sweet, its got some antifreeze left in it.

 

 

tap water is the only water ive ever used!

nah its pretty much only tapwater. The radiator was bone dry when I overheated (still havnt found the leak -.-)
I think ill remove all the pipes and reseat what I can. got no gaskets for the thermostat tho -.- 
 

 

probably where its leaking from then teh stat



#9 Avtovaz

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Posted 09 August 2018 - 11:03 PM

 

stick your finger in the coolant, taste it, if its sweet, its got some antifreeze left in it.

 

 

tap water is the only water ive ever used!

 

Erm,  I know we're only talking about a small quantity here,  but aren't ethylene glycol and methanol supposed to be highly toxic?   And since antifreeze is often treated with Bitrex it may not taste sweet anyway.

 

 

yea yea,.. its like when people say about cooking from an aluminium pan etc... One little bit on the tip of your tong will not kill you! It will taste kinda sweet, trust me!


Edited by Avtovaz, 09 August 2018 - 11:04 PM.


#10 Retroman

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Posted 09 August 2018 - 11:49 PM

Its where the phrase blind drunk comes from.....

 

German [?] soldiers used to drink the antifreeze to get pissed, but it made them blind



#11 Avtovaz

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Posted 10 August 2018 - 12:03 AM

yes thats true, liek the tramps who drank turps.. But a little dab will be ok... You dont even have to swallow it..



#12 harrythehat

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Posted 10 August 2018 - 06:28 AM

Tuppence worth (being a pre decimal person)

 

antifreeze is also a lubricant for the water pump bearing



#13 dyshipfakta

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Posted 10 August 2018 - 08:34 AM

The treatment for ethylene glycol poisoning is ethanol so just have a whiskey after to be safe.

#14 gazza82

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Posted 10 August 2018 - 03:33 PM

Also tap water from my taps will fur up a rad pretty quick!



#15 nicklouse

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Posted 10 August 2018 - 03:46 PM

 

as soon as you can. or when ever you have time.

 how bad is it if i leave it for ....a month?

 

the only issue with some tap and some bottled water is that it can be "hard" water which means it can deposit "lime" in the waterways. distilled and "soft" water does not do this.

 

many people have run their cars on tap water for years with no ill effect (untill it gets very hot) but any deposits can in most cases be removed with some system flush etc. so you are not really in any hurry to change it out.






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