I said earlier:
>. . .if I end up with a mixture of good tap water, distilled water, and 50%
>antifreeze, seems to me that the distilled water can't "act alone". . . !
>Or is something happening on a molecular level that would require a
complete new flush?! Gads! How do I always end up with these weird
questions?!
Easy. Ignorance. But what are friends for? :--)
On the other hand, let's compare the two following statements---the first
already quoted from the book I referred to previously, the second from the
back of a bottle of Prestone Purified Water (that I just discovered
languishing in the corner of my garage).
(1) "Mercedes Benz and a few others have gone to the extent of specifying
the characteristics of the ideal water to use in coolant. They make the
strong
point that distilled water NOT be used in your radiator. Distilled water is
'mineral hungry', and will look to your engine block and other cooling
system components to try and absorb those minerals."
(2) ". . .ordinary tap water can cause the carefully balanced chemistry in
an antifreeze/coolant to become unstable. Tap water [and also bottled
drinking water, incidentally--P.H.] contains sulfate, chloride, calcium and
magnesium that can be harmful to your cooling system. . . . But PRESTONE
Scientifically Purified Water uses a special multi-step purifying process to
remove these harmful impurities. NOT EVEN THE PROCESS OF DISTILLATION can
get to the level of purity that PRESTONE Scientifically Purified Water
offers!"
Okay, now. Who's ignorant? Mercedes-Benz or Prestone? How can there be
two such completely opposed views in the year 2000 on such a basic
automotive subject?
--Phil Haldeman
haldeman@accessone.com
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