distilled water or deionized water for 12V
 

Doing a PM on a vehicle years ago was so much easier..Antifreeze was all green and now is comes in all colors..Some good for older engines some not..[duhhh]..Now the debate of which water to use..[duhhh]

Got to do a rad flush and new antifreeze...Did a search on the net and nothing is straight forward..

What type of water are you guys using for the old 12V...

distilled or de-ionized water ???

Green Antifreeze and water out of the tap.........I know, I know.

Worked for years though.

Distilled is as good as anything.

Thanks Pat...Been using tap water for years also...Now I'm doubt myself....[laugh]..Thinking I've been doing it wrong all these years...[roll]

Distilled is good.

I get distilled and de-ionized at work for free, it's not going to hurt anything.

I'd never use my well water in the cooling system seeing what it does to my sinks and toilets.
Well water in the arid west tends to be full of calcium.
Distilled free from work does it for me.

We had the same problem on the farm..We had a lot of iron in the water..Did it make a mess in the sinks and toilets..We install a iron de-ionizer and sort of calcium remover and some sort of other weird filtration system,all for our well water...It looked like some crazy NASA system in the basement...

Before that...We hauled water from a different location to the house...Now that was good spring water..But they shut down the well, and that's when we dug our own well...It wasn't wasn't the best spring...

Distilled water, you can pick up at any grocery store. Or buy a distiller like this one Sears has. If you are not in a hurry that is.

http://www.sears.com/waterwise-inc-4...1&blockType=G1

Thanks guys...Being that our city water does have a high calcium content..

I will use either distilled or de-ionized water...Just unsure which is better.

And next time I better not wait 5 years to do a antifreeze flush..[duhhh]

Dave, you can buy big jugs of distiller and de-ionized water at Superstore for cheap. The deposit on the bottles is about $10 and the water is about $4. You get the deposit back when you return the jug. The jugs I am talking about are the ones that go on top of a water cooler. It is probably worth the 5 minute drive to the Suprrstore at Southland and MacLeod ot the 10 min drive to the one at Deerfoot Meadows, just for the peace of mind.

Check the bottle top, the are 3 or 4 different types of water and the color of the top tells you which I which, there is usually a legend on the wall by the rack of jugs.

Thanks...I was at Superstore...They have distiiled water...Canadian Tire has de-ionized water..

There is a difference,but unsure which to use..The internet sure doesn't tell me much...[laugh]

Which would you use??

Distilled would be good enough for me.

And way cheaper too....Thanks bud...[roll]

I've always been told distilled is bad unless you're using it in a battery or a steam jenny.
Distilled water is hungry water and will help corrode the engine. Either tap or bottled "drinking" water is the perfect stuff to mix with the antifreeze.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't use either. I bought the stuff at NAPA called 'Final Charge'. It's basically a lifetime antifreeze requiring only a test after... 5 years? I think. All premixed and approved by Cat, Cummins and Detroit, probably a few others. $18 a gallon. I've put it in everything and keep a few spare jugs around in case something happens that I need to add some to something. Even my little 2 cylinder Kawasaki on the sawmill has it.

From the third gen manual...

STANDARD PROCEDURE - ADDING
ADDITIONAL COOLANT
The use of aluminum cylinder blocks, cylinder
heads and water pumps requires special corrosion
protection. Only Mopart Antifreeze/Coolant, 5
Year/100,000 Mile Formula (glycol base coolant with
corrosion inhibitors called HOAT, for Hybrid Organic
Additive Technology) is recommended. This coolant
offers the best engine cooling without corrosion when
mixed with 50% distilled water to obtain a freeze
point of -37°C (-35°F). If it loses color or becomes contaminated,
drain, flush, and replace with fresh properly
mixed coolant solution.