Water vs coolant

[steroidcontaskie]

Hi guys,

I have been looking at some daily drivers and found one that seems pretty good. The only thing that seemed odd was that it had water instead of coolant in the cooling system. Water was clean though.

Does this throw up any alarm bells about the car?

Cheers
Edward

[eskimo]

Cheap skate owners / mechanics

If its clean id just flush it out and replaced with the correct coolant/water mix

Cheers
Jordon

[Adoom]

Cheap skate owners / mechanics

If its clean id just flush it out and replaced with the correct coolant/water mix

Cheers
Jordon

<Thread Hijack>
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was my impression that adding "coolant" to water was to lower the freezing temp, raise the boiling temp and as a corrosion inhibitor for alloy heads/blocks? But it actually reduces the effectiveness of the water for cooling...

AFAIK it doesn't really get cold/hot enough in most of NZ to need the "coolant".
Has anyone got any idea how long, in practice, it would take to see any detrimental corrosion effects from running straight water?

FYI: I do actually use "coolant" in my engine.
</Thread Hijack>

[evil_si]

In a diesel engine in a road truck for instance, running no coolant.damage to the point of requiring an overhaul, wet liners etc can be in as little as 50,000km, that damage can be done in a couple of months,

[Dell'Orto]

Cheap skate owners / mechanics

If its clean id just flush it out and replaced with the correct coolant/water mix

Cheers
Jordon

<Thread Hijack>
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was my impression that adding "coolant" to water was to lower the freezing temp, raise the boiling temp and as a corrosion inhibitor for alloy heads/blocks? But it actually reduces the effectiveness of the water for cooling...

AFAIK it doesn't really get cold/hot enough in most of NZ to need the "coolant".
Has anyone got any idea how long, in practice, it would take to see any detrimental corrosion effects from running straight water?

FYI: I do actually use "coolant" in my engine.
</Thread Hijack>

Correct, but you certainly want some form of corrosion inhibitor in there, shit will rust pretty quickly.

[BZG Wagon]

If you're going to buy it I'd:
1) Squeeze the rubber water pipes all around the engine. If they feel 'crunchy', than you have corrosion problems.
2) Pull out one of the frost plugs and see what sort of condition it is in. Again check for corrosion (coolant prevents corrosion).
3) Turn the heater on hot, then cold, then hot, then cold. If there's any lag between going cold & hot (or if it won't get really hot) then you have blockages somewhere.
4) Go for a long, hard drive (look for some decent hills) and see if the temp spikes. Once warmed up the gauge shouldn't move at all (usually sits just a tad under half way on most cars). Coolant helps disapate engine heat and raises the boiling point of water.

If any there's any evidence of the above I'd personally stay away (unless you're getting an absolute bargain and love the car).