Travis160 Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 I have read a few threads and still no solid conclusion.. Will water harm any part of the bike if used as a coolant or should i use an actual coolant.. I just flushed the radiator but want to run some water through the whole system and drain it once more.. However i do not want to use just water if its likely it will harm anything with such a low boiling point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjdgriff Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Be smart, use coolant. It will keep your motor cooler and help keep it from over heating. Plus it will not cause your shit to rust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis160 Posted April 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 That's what i figured.. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phelps Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 most guys that run water have their bikes down a lot. they use distilled water. tap water will eat at the aluminum over time, rust and steel parts etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2otoofast4u Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Water FTW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjdgriff Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 This is incorrect. Water is better for cooling that coolant. If coolant was so great, you would run straight coolant, not a mixture. Reason for coolant is it lowers freezing point, raises boiling point (not keep it from overheating) plus it helps lube parts and keep things from rusting. Like phelps said, you want 100% h20, not tap water. fair enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
possum Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Distilled water and water wetter. Ftw 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanYE west Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 I agree.. distilled water and redline water wetter. best setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeper06 Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I run distilled water but I can't be puking antifreeze at the track , if u run a trail bike/ dune bike I would run anti- freeze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightmare Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Mountain Dew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanYE west Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I run distilled water but I can't be puking antifreeze at the track , if u run a trail bike/ dune bike I would run anti- freeze Isn't water wetter track approved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickedcarbine Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Redline Water Wetter is approved. I believe they have added the BE Cool Coolant recently as well. (Don't quote me on that though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2otoofast4u Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 They allow water wetter at the kart tracks I believe. I never ran it because Ive never ran them what its hot enough out to need it. Typically we would be covering the radiators trying to make heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blowit Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 This is incorrect. Water is better for cooling that coolant. If coolant was so great, you would run straight coolant, not a mixture. Reason for coolant is it lowers freezing point, raises boiling point (not keep it from overheating) plus it helps lube parts and keep things from rusting. Like phelps said, you want 100% h20, not tap water. Right on!! I will add to this. Water has a higher specific heat than Ethelyne Glycol (coolant) so water would be a superior coolant. HOWEVER, distilled water has now been proven to be very volatile by itself! Why? Distilled water is water that goes through a distillation process that removes most trace minerals. H2O by itself has a strong affinity for minerals! What does this mean? Distilled water without minerals will actually eat your engine up trying to replace minerals. Coolant is actually a VERY scientific product, as much as oils. There are PH buffers, mineral packages, corrosion inhibitors, etc, to satisfy the water so it is stable in the engine. Case and point, There was a rash of tractor engines that were eating their cylinder liners and Orings. This was caused by a "lack" of minerals or depletion of minerals over time. The cure for this is actually a replaceable coolant filter that has a saturated media with trace minerals and buffers built in to leach these minerals back into the coolant. This keeps the coolant stable. Water is also actually acidic thus the reason for PH buffers to correct some of this. In short, water by itself can get you home but I never recommend it long term, even in an Aluminum engine. We also now use mineralized water for coolant mixtures, not distilled. Distilled is usually acceptable when blending with coolant because the coolant has the properties to correct it. What you don't want is high hardness water with high Iron, Manganese, or Phosphorus. Basically water wetter is a blend of minerals, buffers, and lubricants, in higher concentration so more water can be used in the ratio thus "better cooling". We used to think of water as "inert" but it is actually anything but..... Brandon Mull Engineering EDIT: I poked around online for a useful link for reading but I am finding that STILL, most people are in the dark on this! I see quotes that distilled has a PH of 7, etc. I will remind of a couple points. Distilled is a weak acid. We use acids for electrolysis (plating, etc, transfer of elements from anode to cathode). You MUST have as close to a neutral PH as possible and a mineral package in the water so it is stable. Another example I remembered is radiant floor tubing systems. Used to be thought that the best for this is distilled....WRONG. It will eat up fittings like crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98_sheester Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 So with all that being said brandon if i use a 50/50 coolant is that fine? And what if i were to add a little water wetter in that will i be alright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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