Water/Antifreeze Mix

[fcobob78]

Hello,

I just added new coolant to my system.

Topic

[Trcustoms719]

I recommend just buying the 50/50 premixed coolant.

[dreamer2355]

I prefer to mix my own when doing any cooling system work with OEM spec coolant.

[Matt]

Using 50/50 premixed coolant is a huge waste of money. The last time I was at Autozone, it was 1 dollar cheaper to buy the 50/50 than to buy the full non-diluted gallon. I agree that combining that with a gallon of (insert grocery store brand name here) water for another dollar is much more cost effective than wasting cash on the pre-mix. A gallon of filtered water from the grocery store costs under 2 bucks. And you also get the extra gallon bottle to mix it with if you don’t have an antifreeze gallon jug laying around. Just make sure you mark and store it properly.

[fcobob78]

Yes probably worth buying a gallon of distilled water. I guess is too late for me 🙁 My Ignorance was my mistake here.

[pcmdjason]

Filtering water doesn’t remove dissolved minerals. So distilled should be the best.

[BigC]

Hi fcobob78,

I think you are fine. I have access to de-ionized water, so I always buy the full strength coolant and dilute. The important part with changing out your coolant is that you are renewing the fluid in the system to its proper gycol strength, balanced with fresh inhibitors and the proper pH. All these factors help contribute to proper cooling and longevity of the coolant system. Keep us posted if anything else comes up.

[outdoorsman310]

i only use premix when i have to. i dont think filtered water will hurt it. distilled is probably better but not a necesity

[fcobob78]

Thanks for the replies guys. I would like to say that I realized is good practice to flush the cooling system at the intervals recommended, so I would be more diligent on doing this as well.

[WDHewson]

The quality of household tap water varies widely. It could be hard or soft, full of chlorine residuals, lots of salt, and even corrosive sulfides. The inexpensive gallon of distillled water for dilution of the antifreeze concentrate is highly worth the effort.

What I find unbelieveable is the 10 year coolant change interval for my 2003 Accord Coupe. And Honda is probably being cautiously conservative, so maybe I’ll change it after 15 years, Which is to say it will probably leak out when the car is being crushed for recycling.

[dreamer2355]

Quoted From fcobob78:

Yes probably worth buying a gallon of distilled water. I guess is too late for me 🙁 My Ignorance was my mistake here.

Well at least this time your better educated for the next cooling system work you do 🙂

[Trcustoms719]

And this is why i said it would be better to buy premixed.
cause all he had to do was dump it in.
I’m sure the dealer sells OEM premixed right?

[EricTheCarGuy]

It’s recommended to use distilled water for the reasons mentioned above but I’ll confess that at the dealer we never did this instead we just used tap water and to be honest we never had issue that I know about with this practice. I think you have it right by making sure you stick with a good service regement so that you make sure you have fresh coolant in there as that is the most important ‘take away’ I think.

[Author]

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