Radiator Maintenance - TURBO & NON-TURBO

[sakuraguy]

Radiator Maintenance - TURBO & NON-TURBO


Hello guys,

I have a curious question here, hope someone whom better knowledged can help me out and help some others out there via this article also.

I'm driving for more than 8yrs and own my car for 3yrs .. recently i was disturbed and curious about my own act on my car. The week after i bought my car, i forced to throw out my radiator coolant. Since then its has been 3 years, i use only plain water in the radiaor circulation tube and the water supply deck.

Suddenly 2 of my fren came and observing my engine and ask me,

He asked : "Hey u car coolant finished already?" ..
I said : "No i dont use coolant, Just plain water"

Someone please explain and confirm, when should i use coolant? and why? ..


Before i start having my own car, my father's fren .. whom was a foreman at UMW Toyota, advised that, road cars, cruising inner towns no need use coolant, plain water is enuf. He said also, coolant is for long journey drivers, for their vehicles, like people who travel far always .. like from KL to Penang and from Penang to KL .. and for rare long journey runners, once they back to their home .. it's advisable to flush out those coolants, because if the coolant stays longer in radiator without observation .. it can form rust and spoils the waterpump ..

I had experience from my frens Honda CRX Si .. his water pump spoilt, water is not moving to radiator to cool the engine, every time fill the water deck sure the water finish within 1 day. It's a bad day for him ..

So, i concluded those experience .. to follow in my car. Im using the car for 2 yrs plus and another car for 1 yr already .. i do the same but the car runs fine and the tempreature and radiator condition is ok .. but i use only "ANTI-RUST liquid together with the plain water. I have travelled to Perak twice, Thailand once and JB once .. but i forgot to put coolant, but it still runs fine .. no problem at all...


So.. for u guys .. wat would u do? and wat will u suggest? .. Im keep confusing

 

[dericlee]

eh...as i m from alor setar....travelled back there from kl few times in a year...i also use only plain water...nothing goes wrong and the radiator still running in good condition...but it is a bit rusty...coz my car is 10 years old already...i think it is fine to use plain water....

 

[supernatural]

hello bro sakura,
since u've been used coolant in past time so i think y not u keep using coolant.
unless ur car never use coolant since u bought it.
actually for a car which already use coolant, should continue use it bcoz coolant prevent ur radiator from rust dan dirt. BUT, if ur car never use coolant, then better not use coolant in ur future plan bcoz if ur car never use coolant then ur radiator will have rust. and when u use coolant in rusty radiator so coolant will erode the rust and finally will spoil ur radiator (bocor) or ur water pump kong.

and now i keep using coolant for my car. and never plan to stop using it.
the different of using coolant and not using is coolant can prevent rust in radiator.
for my car, i'm using TOYOTA brand coolant(red colour). the best coolant i ever heard la.


just a piece of cake.
peace bro.

 

[sakuraguy]

yah .. thnx for the info supernatural. But .. when i took the car newly, there's coolant inside but i flushed away the next day. I never use my car with coolant since bought. Maybe proton when test drive they put or wat.

till now i use plain water + antirust liquid for 3 yrs.

wats the purpose of coolant? more cooling in radiator?

 

[chinozie]

actually it depends on what type of coolant r u using...if u get it, let say for RM5 bucks for it...hahahah that the one that makes ur radiator rust much more faster...go for a better quality coolant...like the one i'm using right now (i'm now promoting it :D )...Toyota Long Life Coolant, outside cost about RM18...it's red in color...plus it's a little bit oily...plus it's Long Life...:D i've being using it for such a long time...all seems to be A OK...daily driving, town driving, highway...

take a look a this link :

http://www.nbt-brunei.com/part/knowledge/coolant/

 

[zan]

1st thing we must remember, metal when exposed to water will rust. if u cant see it, dismatled the cylinder head and see the water jackets.

when mixed with coolant, it lowers the possibility to rust. once cooling system has rust, and we all know that rust somehow 'grows'. look at may car bonnet and u'll agree. ha ha ha

rust will clog the radiator core as well as corrosive to metal, causing leak. when cooling system is clog, it loses its efficiency. water flow goes slower than suposed to be. if leak, u all know laa...

with coolant using also, u can easily notice if the cooling system has a leak by looking at the floor surface. by using plain water its difficult to diagnosis what water is that. is it wiper washer tank leak? or the pipe? is it cooling system leaking? or aircond water released by the evaporator? we wud not know; take some time to rectify.

coolant also acts as a lubricator especially for water pump. which is why, Toyota's LLC feels like oily. but its not oil of course!. :D advantage for toyota coolant is that they change colour from red to brownish and then turns black showing its time to change. normally last every 40,000km. its quite corrosive too, dont mix too much. for cars below 1.6, 1 bottle will do. for bigger cars like camry, 2 bottles are sufficient.

anti rust coolant also are known to be corrosive. can 'makan besi' one... if u know what i mean.

by using coolant also, will increase boiling temperature as overheating preventive measure.
example - water boils at 100 degree celcius. adding coolant may increase that to 105 or 100 degrees (for example). thus engine damage also can be prevented.

 

[huakenny]

use distilled water or battery water....most cars r using tis....wont 'berkarak'

my 2 cent