We all die at one point. No one is keeping the car forever.

 

Well, as long as I'm alive, I don't want my Mini's cooling system to end up as the one shown in the photo provided by DailyDrivenMini and that was the sole scope of me starting this thread...

 

So why bothee changing your oil? Or doing any other preventive MX? Heck just drive it it till it goes BANG/NO GO, then get another.....
For relilibility in the near term.....and if you decide to keep the car in the longer term, or perhaps end up keeping it for simple ecnomic reasons, a few $ might save you thousands.
just think....you end up keeping your car a few years extra cause life happens...it overheats, and you wonder, while spending $$$ to fit it if spending $5 on 2 gallons of distilled water would have prevented the thermostat from sticking....or driving down the highway one winter, the heater dies...plugged core...shivering on the road trip you wonder.....
How well a person cares for their possesions are often a reflection of their life, and their finances.....shortcuts are a quick way to save a few minutes or a buck, but just life in life, often cost far more in the meduim/longer term.

 

Tap water - guaranteed to last the life of the car...

 

I thought "I don't care" attitude was cool when I was 12. Some still sports it thinking its cool.

I sure hope I ain't buyin' any of that stuff he siells.

Life in general is about being efficient with the time given to you. Some people think they are efficient but when they realize that they are not, they think world isn't fair. LOL

Guess what! it wasn't fair to begin with that is why you gotta be efficient! Cutting' corner is definite being inefficient and actually cost more at the end for EVERYONE involved.

WTF am I talkin bout.

Over and out.

 

Who cares about using the correct oil, ps fluid, antifreeze and water,
or changing brake fluid, coolant, oil and filter. etc. at reasonable intervals?

With the prevelance of that attitude, no wonder buying a used car is such a gamble.

 

Can I just buy the pre mixed from like autozone as long as its not phosphate and nitrate free ?

 

yes

 

Note to self: Never buy a car from 'chaase'. Here in the land of rotting cylinder heads I use distilled water 50/50 with genuine coolant. Tap water is death to our engines.

I was told (don't know if to believe it) that a about 500ml (one pint) of tap water acts as a catalist and aids the corrosion prevention.

 

I want to see supporting evidence if available.

Yet corrosion is prevented by the additives in the antifreeze regardless. I don't see the need for 500ml of tap water with high mineral content causing and depositing seeding mineral crystals on the block. It is all bad stuff from there.

 

I didn't say I believed it. Info came from a mechanic on a mine site (WA home of the big holes in the ground). Maybe only good info for CAT motors.

 

I still have a 1952 MG-TD that I bought 40 years ago, so yeah, I keep my cars forever!

I've only ever used distilled water to thin my antifreeze, the radiator on the MG is like new.

I'll stay with distilled water.

Dave

 

I didn't say you did. I am up for learning anything backed by science and evidence...

Depending where you are, they may add something to water to keep infrastructures/pipe from corroding excessively like saturating water with consumable minerals.

Once again it is not the matter of anti-corrosion property or lack thereof that one is against for suitability as coolant, it is the mineral content in tap water that precipitates and gets deposited on the metal surfaces regardless of make, model, diesel ,gas, big or small, inevitably impeding with heat transfer.

I wouldn't even think for a sec putting tap water in any of my vehicles.

I will never understand those people who will pay $30 for oil change every so often yet skimp on $2-3 worth of distilled water that requires much less frequent change with all the evidence showing that tap water does cause damage.

 

While I like Amsoil Products, I find this rather disturbing....

And since they dont manufacture radiators, stick with what Zippy said.

Distilled water is in gallon jugs too, and is in every grocery store in the USA.

 

Let's talk WATERLESS LIFETIME coolant: EVANS NPG+. Excellent anti-corrosion, anti-freeze coolant. Ask Ed China!
No more coolant changes!

 

Under no circumstances use dehydrated water - some stores still sell this product, but it is useless for cooling engines.

 

One tidbit...not sure when it happened, but bmw has changed coolant formulations....the old white bottle was good for 36 months, the newer is a "longlife", supposed lifetime......it is in a silver bottle, still blue, but with about a 50% price increase. The poision control #'s, ingrediants on thae back, etc are the same, but it also lists the addition of a "bittering agent"....guess they thought folks might mix up summer camp blue juice and this stuff!!

 

 

right up there with this important classic Mini service part

 

Of course...

"Quality H2O"

 

Use Texas branch water. It goes great with VO or Johnnie Walker Red.

 

The mine-site trick was a SMALL amount as some sort of catalyst. Still don't trust it though.

 

If you saw the orange scale/crud I have to scrub off our shower/bath regularly,
you'd think twice about using tap water in the cooling system.

 

And you are claiming the orange crud comes from the tap water and not from you?

 

Maybe you're right. If I would shower before I showered, maybe I wouldn't have this problem!