BigMig Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 In topping off the coolant in my 2000 XX, I mixed 50% coolant with DISTILLED water. Does anyone else use distrilled, or is this overkill. I figured that the minerals in the local tap water couldn't help... Opinions out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbird Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Not overkill, but pretty much required. Good call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airborneXX Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Always use distilled water :icon_thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero Knievel Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 I don't use "tap" water, but my H2O comes from a well system using a water softener. In prior bikes, I've used water from the tap with no noticable problems in system performance. To be fair, even the water from the tap ran through a basic charcoal water filter, so that might have made a difference. Never have rust problems. My last bike had coolant pump failures, but this was the flaw in design for that Kawasaki model, and failure happened within the known lifespan of the component. I used the softened water in my truck to backflush the system when I service it, and I don't have a problem there either. If I really wanted to be careful, I could always use the reverse-osmosis treated drinking water, but I'd not be inclined to run to town to get distilled water. Frankly, if the water you use goes through any meaningful post-tap treatment (what's in the tap is nasty to drink for most people anyhow if you're in the city), I think it's the additives in your antifreeze/coolant additives and how often you flush and treat your coolant system that matters more than how "clean" you think the water is. Just my 2 cents. I'm sure others will passionately disagree. Like on OIL. :icon_shhh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartonmd Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Good Job! It didn't used to be all that important to use distilled or RO water (basically, same thing) in a coolant system, because the coolant was designed with silicates (dust/very fine sand) in it that would be used as an abrasive as the coolant flowed through the system and basically erode away any deposits from the shit in the tap water. This was up until about 3-4 years ago on any of the "yellow" coolant... Enter DexCool and the like... Actually very good stuff if you don't wait until 100k miles to change it... The issue a lot of people ended up having is, they used tap water to mix the 50/50 with, and DexCool and the like don't have silicates in them, because it turns out that silicates don't do good things to aluminum engine parts in the errosion dept... Even though Honda's coolant in these bikes is green, it is a silicate-free coolant, like the DexCool. This makes the gaskets and water pump last longer, because they're not being constantly eroded by sand, straight up desert pyramid style... (it's also why I've sen some fail where people used silicate coolant in the systems). The other issue is, water will evaporate out of dexcool and the like, and people would add green coolant to top it off, and it seems that the 2 types of coolant didn't go together all that well, and ate gaskets and such... So now days, the Prestone coolant you buy is the "all makes, all models" stuff, which is actually a silicate-free coolant that is OK to mix with either DexCool or standard coolant, and is actually pretty good stuff... This is what you want to use in the 'bird, because it's a silicate free coolant with good anti-corrosion properties, but you need to make sure to use RO or Distilled water with it! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haWHYnXX Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Good Job! It didn't used to be all that important to use distilled or RO water (basically, same thing) in a coolant system, because the coolant was designed with silicates (dust/very fine sand) in it that would be used as an abrasive as the coolant flowed through the system and basically erode away any deposits from the shit in the tap water. This was up until about 3-4 years ago on any of the "yellow" coolant... Enter DexCool and the like... Actually very good stuff if you don't wait until 100k miles to change it... The issue a lot of people ended up having is, they used tap water to mix the 50/50 with, and DexCool and the like don't have silicates in them, because it turns out that silicates don't do good things to aluminum engine parts in the errosion dept... Even though Honda's coolant in these bikes is green, it is a silicate-free coolant, like the DexCool. This makes the gaskets and water pump last longer, because they're not being constantly eroded by sand, straight up desert pyramid style... (it's also why I've sen some fail where people used silicate coolant in the systems). The other issue is, water will evaporate out of dexcool and the like, and people would add green coolant to top it off, and it seems that the 2 types of coolant didn't go together all that well, and ate gaskets and such... So now days, the Prestone coolant you buy is the "all makes, all models" stuff, which is actually a silicate-free coolant that is OK to mix with either DexCool or standard coolant, and is actually pretty good stuff... This is what you want to use in the 'bird, because it's a silicate free coolant with good anti-corrosion properties, but you need to make sure to use RO or Distilled water with it! Mike Great job Mike. Very informative stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMig Posted December 26, 2006 Author Share Posted December 26, 2006 Thanks to everyone for very informative responses...although I didn't expect anything less. :icon_clap: Safe holidays to all ! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetfixxr Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 In topping off the coolant in my 2000 XX, I mixed 50% coolant with DISTILLED water. Does anyone else use distrilled, or is this overkill. I figured that the minerals in the local tap water couldn't help... Opinions out there? According to Honda, the Honda coolant is used right from the bottle straight. Jet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartonmd Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 In topping off the coolant in my 2000 XX, I mixed 50% coolant with DISTILLED water. Does anyone else use distrilled, or is this overkill. I figured that the minerals in the local tap water couldn't help... Opinions out there? According to Honda, the Honda coolant is used right from the bottle straight. Jet Yes, the Honda coolant is already at 50/50 (the stuff I've seen anyway), but if you buy the all makes, all models stuff from the store, it needs to be mixed 50/50... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 the Honda coolant is already at 50/50 (the stuff I've seen anyway), I have bought it both ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottw Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 I can attest to the performance of the Dexcool specification (No silicates, no phosphates.) 163,000 on my 99 VFR and 132,000 on my 97 Vmax. Mixed 50/50 with distilled water. No overheating problems, original water pumps on both. Change evry three years. Just installed it in the bird and only have 7000 miles on it, but I expect the same performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2equis Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 50% distilled water and 50% ethelene glycol. Stay away from propylene glycol. It's "greener" but doesn't cool as well (e.g. Engine Ice). Also, water wetter is fairly effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodantking Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 was at the store and read the bottle of Prestone all makes all models coolant and it said nothing about beingsilicate free. Looked it up on there web site and still found nothing. Where did you see that it was silicate free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
testrider Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 was at the store and read the bottle of Prestone all makes all models coolant and it said nothing about beingsilicate free. Looked it up on there web site and still found nothing. Where did you see that it was silicate free? Looks like only their "Extended Life 5/150" is silicate free. See here: http://www.prestone.com/carcare/faq.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartonmd Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 was at the store and read the bottle of Prestone all makes all models coolant and it said nothing about beingsilicate free. Looked it up on there web site and still found nothing. Where did you see that it was silicate free? Looks like only their "Extended Life 5/150" is silicate free. See here: http://www.prestone.com/carcare/faq.php Yes, the Extended life stuff you're talking about is the same stuff as the "all makes, all models" stuff... that's about the only stuff you find regularly stocked in the store besides the Dex Cool stuff... I also called them on the phone and asked about it, and they said it was silicate free there too... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunedain Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 FWIW - I use 100% Engine Ice which is 50/50 PG and DI Water. Never a trouble expcept I have still bolied it out of the dirt bike on insane muddy hills where I'm up to 260 degrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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