hey guys i just did a track day and the track required us to use 100% water. i completely forgot to use antifreeze afterwards and drove it home and had it in my car for a few days. Did i damage anything. The temp gauge has always stayed in the middle and I haven't had the coolant light come on either. i have a 60/40 water and antifreeze mix in my car now but i was wondering if i damaged anything because i did do some stop and go driving and sat in traffic while i had all water in my car.

 

it will corrode your cooling system quickly

 

Don't worry about it. No harm done in such a short time.

 

Pure water actually cools better than an anti-freeze/water mix. So you will not have caused any heat related damage.

However, anti-freeze mixtures come with corrosion inhibitors, which you will need to stop water corrosion. The short time you ran without these inhibitors is unlikely to have caused any probems.

 

What the hell group were you running with that would make such a rediculous requirement?

 

Actually, most drag strips that I have been to require all cars to run only water. Most of them are pretty flexible on that rule for street cars though. If you are running a heavily modified car they will usually make you drain your anti-freeze.

 

Does running 100% distilled water stop the water corrosion?

 

There are sanctioning-body approved water additives that will prevent corrosion while not slicking up the track (that's what they're worried about) if you dump your water. I use the one Valvoline makes (VV858 super-coolant) in my formula continental racecar.

 

BTW, I use the Valvoline product above with distilled water.

 

The antifreeeze and/or approved additives also contain lubricants for the the water pump. Unless you were really diligent when you drained the system though, you probably left enough antifreeze in the system to minimize any problems for the short time involved.

 

Don't forget that running only water greatly reducing the cooling systems boiling point and could result in localized boiling and water seal damage even if you don't "overheat" the car.

Water only... damn enviro freaks.

 

has anyone had problems running redline water wetter? it says it has a corrosion inhibitor

 

Some say watter wetter can degrade the coolant seals... not sure if it is a myth or fact though.

 

becuase distilled water is just water with no minerals in it, corrosion will more easily form in a cooling system. using regular tap water, it has minerals already in it that give themselves up before corroding anything in the cooling system. distilled water isn't all its cracked up to be.

 

I ran straight distilled water for years with no problems.

Jason

 

Use 60/40 mixture with Prestone and water pump lubrication/anti corrosion mix.
I have seen distilled water/prestone cars with NO corrosion after 100,000 miles. The coolant system looked new.

 

wrong. tap water has +1 (or more i believe IIRC) sodium properties compared to drinking water.

we all know what salt does for our motors right?

 

i think he means to refer to deionised water not distilled water. deionisng water removes minerals

 

the only info i could come up with:
as water wetter is red in colour, maybe the 2 are getting confused

 

He must. Here's some good info on distilled water...

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ight=distilled