Is it safe to run the Koyo radiator with straight water and no antifreeze since it is aluminum, in non-freezing weather of course. Maybe with distilled water? With aluminum and pure water rusting and impurity build up should not be a problem. Correct?

 

always put a lil bit of antifreeze and redine water wetter. I wouldn't recommend running with water only.

 

yeah what him said... id mix it up a lil ... there must be a additive you can add. to prevent oxidization

 

although water in pure state is the best form of "coolant" it doesnt help lubercate the water pump the best thing to do is run 50/50 water coolant. also something to think about is Engine Ice. i use it in my motorcycle and it runs much cooler now. it isnt the cheepest thing on earth but definatly a good product. and its enviromentaly friendly for all the tree huggers

 

engine coolant does 2 things. The ethylene/propylene glycol in there increases the boiling point of water and also lowers the freezing point of water. And there is corrosion inhibitors in there to help prevent corrosion.

 

btw the corrosion inhibitors in the coolant is for the parts containing iron...water pump...housing...aluminum is pretty corrosion resistant because of the protective oxide layer

 

Distilled water should help you out.

 

no no.....distilled water + coolant

 

If you don't put coolant in, the water in your radiator will boil.

 

aluminum engine parts will look like ants and termites have been feasting on them in several years. Even lab quality pure water will not stay clean long in an automobile cooling system.
you need a lubricant and a corrorsion inhibitor.

 

The cooling system is under pressure which is where most of your resistance to boilover is coming from. Pure water at 13 PSI boils at 255F where as a 50/50 mix is around 265F and honestly if your cooling system is that high you need to increase heat disipation from your radiator with fans and airflow, or put less heat into the system. Pure water along with water wetter will allow the system to absorb the most heat in the engine passages and release the most while traveling through the radiator. This is why some people use higher pressure radiator caps as moving from 13 PSI to 16 PSI raises the boiling point a few degrees and it also helps transfer heat form the head better. Of course you will also stress the rest of the system with more pressure and the weakest hose will burst at the absolute worst time so make sure everything is in perfect shape. 50/50 with water wetter is the best combo for the colder climates where as adding more water ratio to the mix in warmer climates will improve the efficiency of your cooling system. Using 90 water/10 antifreeze + water wetter is as high as you want to go for any long time period for a street driven car as you want some corrosion protection and water pump lubrication in your system. Usually I run 70 water / 30 antifreeze and switch to 50/50 in the winter months but realize that forgetting to change it can leave you a nasty suprise if it gets really cold where you live.

 

Obviously when I said distilled I also implied to use anitfreeze alongside. Sorry about that.

 

what kind of coolant do u guys use?

 

i have a koyo radiator and i have 1 jug of coolant and 2 jugs of water. I used plain ol "peak" antifreeze.