Archived Pure water in raiator , is this harmful?

[woof]

I just lost all my water and I cant tell where it came from. The hoses feel ok, at least I cant see any splits. Perhaps its the water pump. I filled the radiator with water from a hose then chickened out starting up with no antifreeze in the system. Just not sure how bad it is to do that. Any advice? Sunday afternoon is hard to get help. Thanks

 

[Demons_Ram]

Should be fine to use it for detecting leaks. Just don't leave it in, or run the truck hard with it. Remember, tap water has minerals in it that cause corrosion in the cooling system and it also boils at 212*F, which is lower than the recommended antifreeze/water mix. Ideally (with no leaks) you should be running a distilled water/antifreeze mix.



On Edit: Most waterpumps have a weep-hole in the bottom of the snout of the casting. When the internal seal between the bearings and coolant impeller goes bad it will leak or weep out of this hole.

 

[Mhannink]

you will be alright if its for a little bit just dont run it for any real long length of time(as in months) but if you need to for a few days you'll be alright tho remeber that you might over heat a little easier so don't run hard. and fix it asap

 

[turbo torque]

You should be fine, I've been running tap water with a big jug of laundry soap and flush every 50 - 100 miles, then more soap and water.



I blew head gasket a month ago and still trying to clean tar looking oil from cooling system. less and less oil flushes out each time



When it comes out clean I will add antifreeze and distilled water.



If hoses are all good, I'd be lookin at water pump.

 

[jrobinson2]

A few days wont hurt anything, the antifreeze leaves a coating on the inside of the engine and it takes a while for it to break down.



Jared

 

[2broke2smoke]

straight water will cool better ... just run some wal-mart distilled water so you don't have to worry about minerals

 

[woof]

I love this site. Thank you guys for chiming in, I dont know what I would do without y'all , being a carpenter, I do have some wrenches. .

 

[Mhannink]

straight water will cool better ... just run some wal-mart distilled water so you don't have to worry about minerals

not to be rude but that is very wrong. i studied this first week of school(wyotech) water boils at 212 at sea level and boils sooner the higher you go. now when pressurized it raises the boiling point just as if you where to increase atomspheric pressure. now thast pure water water mixed w/ ethylene glycole or other types will change this it will boil at higher temps like 250 im not sure the exact numbers ill have to go back into the book and look it up but basically its raises the boiling point lubes the water and reduces wear in the cooling system. and its definaty not good to run w/o it for a long time but like i said earlier if its an emergency and is only for a really short tiem then you will be alright

 

[Nate]

Yeah water is fine. Distilled water... never used it. Never used it when I did radiator flushes working in a shop either. If you have real hard water, it's probably a bad idea, but regular tap water is fine if you ask me.

 

[Joe G.]

Cooling better and boiling point are two different things. Cooling has to do with the transfer of heat from the engine to the air. Boiling point is the point at which the liquid boils. I don't know if water transfers heat better than coolant or not. Coolant lets you run the engine hotter of course, but that says nothing about the relative abilty to transfer heat.

 

[2broke2smoke]

Cooling better and boiling point are two different things. Cooling has to do with the transfer of heat from the engine to the air. Boiling point is the point at which the liquid boils. but that says nothing about the relative abilty to transfer heat.

exactly!



MHANNINK, don't appologize for being rude if you're telling the truth



learned the straight water trick while drag racing ... my highcompression 1970 roadrunner would run as much a 20 degrees cooler on a hot day with straight water vs 50/50



ran distilled water in my '91 cummins, sold the truck @ 275k with the original radiator, it had very little deposits in it ...

 

[Mhannink]

the distilled water is not the problem now i don't know about your situation and maybe they didn't cover this in class(learning they do have some errors) but as for running coolant it basicaly the fact that you raised the boiling point allowed it to run hotter and more effecintly it also gives more room for overheating. the thing is the water still boils as it comes in contact w/ the cyl walls it flashes to steam and the takes the heat off and transfers it to the coolant and then to the outside air. the straight water would probably run cooler because it flashes sooner and transfers that heat sooner the only problem is if you run too cold then you have effecincy problems especilly in a diesel where the heat is good for the most part. in both gas or diesel tho you want to be in a certain temp range for effeincy. the drag racing you may have got away w/ it and yes you can run it one the road but i would still think that running a coolant helps alot in protection if anything

 

[Joe G.]

The question was not if coolant was better to run, but does water cool better than coolant. Boiling point is a different characteristic than cooling ability.



It's much better to run coolant because of pump lubrication, corrosion prevention, cold weather protection, and that it will allow the engine to run hotter without problems.



Brake fluid, for example, has a pretty high boiling point, but I don't think it would work very well in the radiator.

 

[2broke2smoke]

exactly...

 

[Mhannink]

ok i see ya'lls point i think i kinda miss read that a little bit i aopligize if i stepped on anyones toes.

 

[tp0d]

ran distilled water in my '91 cummins, sold the truck @ 275k with the original radiator, it had very little deposits in it ...

how'd ya get around the freezing issue down there in WV?



hmm



-j

 

[2broke2smoke]

i meant that i ran distilled water with the antifreeze 50/50 ...

sorry...

was referring to the ability of the distilled water to prevent mineral/crud build up ...

 

[cojhl2]

I thought that 50/50 actually carried away more heat cause it is denser than pure water.



Also I did not know that the coolant flashed next to the liners or cyl walls. That is a bit of education! I always thought it was a pure convective heat transfer.



There is always something t learn on this site.

 

[tp0d]

i meant that i ran distilled water with the antifreeze 50/50 ...

sorry...

was referring to the ability of the distilled water to prevent mineral/crud build up ...

Ahh ok gotcha. . heh



Was just down in Buckhannon today at the high school fixin a domestic hot water boiler. Man thats a long drive from pittsburgh. . sheesh



-j

 

[2broke2smoke]

you drove right by me ... i work at St. Joes hospital ...