Hi all.
Would very much like peoples opinion as to whether running distilled water and soluble oil as cooling fluid is good or bad for an engine. I am the second owner of the car ('84 AB turbo) and the previous owner only ever used this mixture in the cooling system. I have just finished re-building the throttle body and the internal water galleries are like brand new, not even a hint of corrosion. Granted, the engine has only done 124,000 Klms and it has never really been thrashed (often ) I would like to hear other's opinions.

Cheers,

Jas.

Soluble oil in the cooling system is "old school"...........this was mainly used to lubricate the older style water pumps that didn't run a sealed bearing..........coolant (and engine oils) these days are very versatile and only need to be changed annually, and last longer than past products.

Never heard of this soluble oil for cooling. Corrosion free galleries after that many k's might be a first for a cordia. I'd check the radiator and see what condition that is in, but if it works it works. I'd be more interested in how well the stuff works to maintain temp. at 35 degrees in heavy traffic.

The most important properly in the cooling system is water as its primary function is to transfer heat. Coolant additives are generally used to anti-freeze, anti-boil and inhibit corrosion.

One factor that is commonly over looked despite being mentioned by most respectable coolant manufacturers is the use of distilled or de-mineralized water. The hard water out of our taps is for drinking and should be left out of engines.

In Jasb's case, he mentioned the use of distilled water, in my opinion this is good practice and the reason why said engine does not show signs of corrosion. Not the fact that it uses soluble oil.

As for performance, unless his system is in need of one of the properties modern additives can provide (say increased boiling temperature), he will not notice much performance difference.

Having said all this, I have used hard water in the past, but all that is in the past. Distilled water with Quality Glycol FTW!

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Yeah only distilled water in the cooling system. I still cannot believe how many mechanics out there fill up a customers car with water straight out of a garden hose. Want repeat customers i guess.

I use castrol radicool at a 50/50 ratio. As long as the thermo fans kick in when they're meant to i've never had any problems.