Seasonal question: Water for anti-freeze for winter or summer?

@Docnick‌ no Jim Frost is just my pseudonym. I wish they were pulling my leg, apparently they were just some backwood idiots.

TO ALL THAT ARE SAYING THEY ARE SKEPTICAL, YES IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED…TWICE. Thing is both were mechanics at the same place, that’s why I brought this up it was odd having conflicting information at the at the same garage…

Actually, it is full-on proof that you should never darken their doorway again, not even to ask for directions!

I think the first mechanic was totally wrong and just doesn’t know any better. The second mechanic…I think… just had a brain f*rt and said it backwards.

As far as I’m concerned the only time to put only water in is when either

  1. you are just testing an engine and it will be drained again right away.
  2. when you are stranded 50 miles from any help and that’s all you can get.

I blew a heater hose once and all that was near was a small pond. I got enough water into it, but it was a chore. All them tadpoles kept swimming into my bucket.

Yosemite

"As far as I’m concerned the only time to put only water in is when either

  1. you are just testing an engine and it will be drained again right away.
  2. when you are stranded 50 miles from any help and that’s all you can get."

+1
I still get chills when I recall a trip–from NJ to Daytona Beach, circa 1970–in a colleague’s car that I thought was properly maintained. As it turned out, nothing had ever been done under the hood in the 4 years that he had owned the car.

The second breakdown that we experienced was when the engine overheated, in Georgia.
The only thing we could do was to wait for it to cool down, and then refill it—via “dog dish” hubcaps relayed from a stream–until the radiator was full. The only positive thing about the water from that stream was that it was no more muddy than what had spewed from his radiator when the top seam burst.

Thankfully, the John Deere tractor dealer was able to fix the radiator and got us on our way in record time. However, I never again took a trip in that guy’s car.

My first warning should have been when we stopped for gas on the NJ Turnpike, the attendant checked the oil, and asked the owner, “When was the last time that you changed this tar?”. The owner’s answer was…“Oh, I don’t believe in that stuff”. Unfortunately, he also believed in using water in his radiator.

Gulp…

Well I don’t see where anyone has addressed the issue of Aluminum heads and blocks. In the old days of cast iron blocks and heads, you could run water in the summer and year round in some warm climates like SO Cal and Florida. You did have to add a water pump conditioner and corrosion inhibitor.

That just doesn’t work in modern engines with all that aluminum. Since most antifreezes last 5 years, why would anyone consider semi annual changes.

For the record, OP just posted that he’s been driving his car around with a head gasket leak for a year, and that it’s going through coolant at a rate he’s just replenishing with water. (Oh, and apparently it misfires badly under load.)

Given the totality, I'd say this car is ready for "no heroic measures" status: fix stuff as it fails and start saving up for something new. You DO have to add enough coolant to keep everything from freezing, or you'll crack your block into lots of pieces.

I suggest that, in the future, you should be a bit more pro-active in dealing with maintenance issues.

This isn’t advice that is restricted to old cars either. Old equipment that once followed the regiment of water in summer, antifreeze in winter is best served by year round mixtures of today’s concoctions which do a better job of cooling and rust prevention in just about everything they were designed for…old and new.

“Since most antifreezes last 5 years, why would anyone consider semi annual changes.”

Excellent point!
In the modern era, why would somebody go to the extra expense and effort to drain & refill every 6 months or so?

“I’d say this car is ready for “no heroic measures” status: fix stuff as it fails and start saving up for something new.”

+1
Given the age & condition of this car, I would suggest that the OP only buy gas a few gallons at a time, rather than…invest…in a full tank of gas.

“suggest that the OP only buy gas a few gallons at a time, rather than…invest…in a full tank of gas”

+1 @VDCDriver

Now THAT is funny!

technically what it protects from in the summer is boiling over, not overheating.

Not entirely accurate. Pure water will cause localized boiling (like the bubbles that form when you boil water in a pan) at critical surfaces. The air bubbles that form cannot carry away heat as effectively as liquids in constant contact with the surface. This localized boiling can damage the engine from overheating. That is why a surfactant needs to be added to water to prevent this phenomenon from occurring (like water wetter or ethylene glycol).

When I grew up in farm country, none of the farmers wanted to spend money (and time) on antifreeze on farm equipment or even farm trucks. The anti-freeze available was alcohol based and had to be tested for strength frequently. Fortunately, almost all the engine used back then had petcocks on the blocks so they would just open them after every winter use.

J B Weld was developed for everything that cracked when they got caught by an unexpected cold snap.

Both of these mechanics are idiots, and while you attempt to control the answers you get, reality is reality. These are throw backs to the 40’s and 50’s when use of water was common. When it gets below 32 degrees where water freezes everyone would have to go out and drain the water out of the radiator and engines. If they didn’t the water would freeze, and freezing water expands so would break the radiator or crack the engine block. In the summer, it never gets below 32 degrees so will not freeze. Its not summer/winter, its when the temp gets below freezing. Now if you like rust in your engine, unlubricated water pumps, etc. use water. But why would one drain anti-freeze to put water in? Just makes no sense. Put a 50/50 mix in once and be done. You don’t have to drain it.

I went to two different mechanics and one told me that you can run your car in the summer with just water, HOWEVER you can't get away with that during the winter which apparently is when you need the anti-freeze the most.
Both these I don't dare use the word mechanics are screaming idiots, and I would never ask them for advise on anything.

On our old Farmall Regular in the 50’s, we used to drain the water from the radiator in the winter. When we started it, we first got it running, then added the water rapidly. We would put a gunny sack over the radiator to keep it from freezing, and sometimes even take the fan belt off the fan. As it heated up we might have to adjust things.

When we shut it off, we instantly pulled the drain plug so it would drain out before freezing.

Do not use water in your radiator- especially in winter: if for any reason your vehicle overheat in winter, call for taw, frozen water can stab the radiator in the winter ‖ as of the summer, the weather may be a little forgiving with the use of a little amout of water in the radiator - note to self: there will be need to use concentrated coolant, for the next couple of months, before the regula 50/50 coolant can be used again.

Antifreeze / Cooling System - 1 Gallon
Part # :
AIC 8115207
Product Line :
Altrom Chemicals, Lubes
Important Info :

NAPA calls it antifreeze .

I’m aware this is an old, out of date OP, but it poses an intriguing theoretical question anyway: If the constraint is that you could only use a 50/50 anti-freeze mix for 6 months of the year, and had to use water the other 6 months (for some unknown reason), and that corrossion to the internal engine parts isn’t to be considered, which is the best compromise?

A: Water in the summer/anti-freeze in the winter?
B: Or anti-freeze in the summer/water in the winter?

My guess, it depends. If you live in an area that gets freezing temperatures, you’d be forced to choose A, to avoid damage to the engine if the coolant ever freezes. Note that freezing coolant isn’t corrosion damage, so you’d still have to consider that as part of the problem. But if you lived in a tropical climate, you’d be better off to choose B, b/c you’d get some add’l cooling capacity in the summer.

This is all theoretically speaking of course.

Sounds logical, but “coolant” also lubricates the water pump, inhibits corrosion, and raises the water’s boiling point… which I realize is higher when pressurized anyway.

I realize that you’re referring only to the fluid’s ability to dissipate heat, but my feeling is that if the ability to dissipate heat is that critical, if the system is that borderline, the system has other problems that need to be addressed rather than trying to ignore them by using pure water. I confess that I haven’t looked it up, but I trust your comment that water actually dissipates heat better.

When a freeze plug crumbles and costs $400 to replace and shortly afterward the water pump impeller fails and costs another $400 think of all the money that was saved. And then of course there’s the blown head gasket caused by overheating from one of the above failures.

And if none of those problems were a threat how does seasonally running water only save money?