Coolant, ready mixed vs concentrate / Tap water or distilled

[BoggoStump]

Just been out shopping, saw Halfords so had to pop in, came out with a bottle of 5L concentrate, the ready mixed i would of needed 2x 5L for £40, instead of concentrate for £26.

Now i got back and thought i'd have a look what EuroCarParts is selling it for, TripleX 5L ready mixed x2 for £31.

Then i thought tap water or distilled? should i take it back to halfords and go to Euro instead?

[scoey1001]

You can get 5l of G12 coolant on eBay for £10.99 delivered. P.s I know this doesn't really answer your question.

Edit: just looked and they have 2x 5l of ready mixed Mannol G12+ red/pink for £15.99 delivered, seems a very good deal.

Edited by scoey1001 on Thursday 16th July 21:16

[trickywoo]

Premix is much better.

I’d go for prestone. Great product, read the spec. 10 year life, mixes with any other coolant and is all makes / models compatible.

Well under £30 for 8 litres with minimal shopping around.

[BoggoStump]

Damn i feel like a fool taking stuff back. i would rather premix.

[scoey1001]

BoggoStump said:

Damn i feel like a fool taking stuff back. i would rather premix.

Don't feel like a fool you'd be a fool to pay over the odds. Halfords is generally a fair bit more expensive for a lot of things, suppose they have the convenience factor though. Saying that eBay etc. can deliver to your door for half the price in a couple of days.

[Dogwatch]

BoggoStump said:

Damn i feel like a fool taking stuff back. i would rather premix.

I bought a gallon(ish) of Europarts ready mix and it's fine. I did wonder about the concentrate as really you are paying for them to cart water round the country (my bro ordered some ready mix from them and apparently they shoved it on a plane from Heathrow to East Midlands!).

[finishing touch]

My tap water is so hard if I boil an egg it turns the saucepan white.
My cat doesn't even drink it preferring the green stuff with wiggly things in it from the water butt.


Lidl sell 2 litre bottles of nice soft drinking water for 17p each.

I use it for washer bottles and rads on all my cars and bikes.

I even wet the leather with a cupful to wipe the bike fairing after cleaning it so it doesn't dry with white spots.

Paul G

[Chris32345]

5l of concentrate and 5l of distilled water £4-5 normally

[trickywoo]

Chris32345 said:

5l of concentrate and 5l of distilled water £4-5 normally

False economy. Distilled water has a tendency to go acidic and if you are relying on cheap coolant to deal with it and give good anti-corrosion for any period of time you are pissing in the wind.

I don't even think you can buy 5l of coolant and distilled water in those quantities for that price.

Pretty poor post all in.

[105.4]

I’ve always bought concentrated coolant and mixed it 50/50 with tap water. Is there any logical reason why I shouldn’t be doing that? Is it bad for the internals of my coolant system?

[trickywoo]

105.4 said:

I’ve always bought concentrated coolant and mixed it 50/50 with tap water. Is there any logical reason why I shouldn’t be doing that? Is it bad for the internals of my coolant system?

Unless you have very hard water it's ultimately fine.

What you get with premix is a much longer service life and better performance overall.

If you are doing your coolant every two years what you are doing won't cause any harm.

[105.4]

trickywoo said:

105.4 said:

I’ve always bought concentrated coolant and mixed it 50/50 with tap water. Is there any logical reason why I shouldn’t be doing that? Is it bad for the internals of my coolant system?

Unless you have very hard water it's ultimately fine.

What you get with premix is a much longer service life and better performance overall.

If you are doing your coolant every two years what you are doing won't cause any harm.

Thanks Tricky. And yes, I do a full coolant change every 25’000 miles, which is usually about two years, although I don’t go to the extent of removing the core plugs, just remove the bottom hose.

[Captain Answer]

105.4 said:

Thanks Tricky. And yes, I do a full coolant change every 25’000 miles, which is usually about two years, although I don’t go to the extent of removing the core plugs, just remove the bottom hose.

Same, I just use tap water and drop the bottom hose off. Taking the core plug out is often more hassle than its worth

[BoggoStump]

As above post use soft water from bottles.

I live in a soft water area so i shall be using tap water.

I got the concentrated stuff now so im using it.... going for a 60/40 water / antifreeze mix.

I have read that distilled water is no good. as its so stripped of minerals and ions? that it begins to draw minerals from the aluminium block etc? dunno how true it is but soft water is the one to go for. Hard water, can line the engine with limestone? and can cause serious overheating issues.

[Chris32345]

trickywoo said:

False economy. Distilled water has a tendency to go acidic and if you are relying on cheap coolant to deal with it and give good anti-corrosion for any period of time you are pissing in the wind.

I don't even think you can buy 5l of coolant and distilled water in those quantities for that price.

Pretty poor post all in.

£4 for the water not the coolant