Radiator Water??

I have always used tap water out of my garden hose.Never had any problems with that yet.I never heard of people using distilled water in their vehicle's radiators before. cuhulin

Distilled water and rain water are definately NOT even close to the same.

Distilled water should be pretty much pure H2O. Rainwater will have all sorts of airbourne chemicals included with it.

I would think that rain water would contain contaminants that are not necessarily desirable to have in a cooling system.

The label around the coolant fill of the Dodge Viper specifically states to use distilled water.

Best to avoid any water source that has dissolved solids.

Thanks to all for the replies. I don't want to use tap water here in the Abilene, TX area because it is extremely "hard." My once-clean radiator closed up (almost) after 8 years here, using tap water. Perhaps I'll just go with the rain water, since I can't imagine how it could possibly pick up too many contaminants from the air, especially being collected in the middle of a hard rainstorm.

Thanks again

EW

I wouldn't doubt your house water pipes (in Abilene) are just about clogged up from that hard water, probally a lot of calcium in the water.In that case, you might want to think about getting one of those water filter thingys.Some stores sell distilled water in one gallon plastic jugs. cuhulin

Well, you are not very close to correct.

Rain water is nearer to distilled water than tap water is to distilled water, in most cases.

There are a few airborne chemicals, but they are usually present in low concentrations unless you are near to a coal power plant, chemical plant, etc. If you are near a seacoast, there may be substantial concentrations of salt, even in rainwater.

You normally have to worry about dissolved corrosive gases in purified water. These can include CO2, O2, oxides of nitrogen, and oxides of sulfur..

You are marginally better off to used distilled water. But be careful that your distilled water is REALLY distilled, not ion exchanged. Some IE water can have very low pH values and can be somewhat corrosive.

Distilled water is so cheap that there is usually no reason to use tap water or rain water.

I've seen "deionized" water, which isn't distilled water, but supposedly safe for cooling systems.

All cars I've owned have said tap water is fine for the cooling system. When in doubt, check your owner's manual.

Ray

If your antifreeze contains a corrosion inhibitor (and most do) either will be fine.

Use distilled water in the absence of inhibitor and the resulting corrosion can be nothing short of amazing. Distilled water is unbuffered and likely to become strongly alkaline in the presence of metals. Rain water typically has enough impurities in solution to act as a buffer (ie it's more likely to maintain somewhere near a neutral pH value).

Rainwater is always preferable over tap water.

I HAVE heard many times to use distilled water in battery. Of course, most modern ones don't need topping up, but they sure used to, especially in summer if your voltage regulator was set a bit high.

Oh sure, I know about using distilled water in batteries.And for people who iron their clothes with a steam iron, distilled water should be used there too.I guess a tea kettle with a piece of copper tubing fitted snugly on the tea kettle's spout will produce distilled water.I haven't tried that out though. cuhulin

Depends upon your water. In some places, garden hose water is okay. In others, it isnt.

At a buck a gallon, distilled water is pretty cheap.

Here, we have treated lake water which is also low in minerals. No big deal.

In some places, the magnesium and calcium in the water, combined with the sulfate and silicate, can cause a big problem.

Where are you, Cuhulin?

Thanks JH. As I said before, my tap water is very hard and has clogged up one of my older cars badly over the past 8 years, or so. We've had plenty of hard rain lately and I've saved gallons of the stuff, so that's what I'll use. Can't go wrong w/ Mother Nature!

EW