[Chicagois2]

Is it bad to run just plain ol' water in my radiator? I had it full of coolant until I sprung a leak, plugged it, filled with water, and I never went and flushed it yet. How bad it the water for my system? Will everything be ok, if I add some Water Wetter?

 

[Rivetgeek]

you can run water + water wetter fine. Just dont run pure water as it will corrode your system.

 

[Chicagois2]

why's the pure water corrode and the tap water not?

 

[zx6rguys]

If you run water it needs to be distilled water. Running water is ok. The reason they put antifreeze/water is because it gives it a higher boiling point and a lower freezing point. I would flush it out and put antifreeze back in it because it is starting to get cold outside. The last thing you want is for that water to freeze in your motor because it will cause some major problems.

 

[Kurve Killa]

You need to use at least distilled water, the flouride and chlorine and other minerals in tap water cause the radiator to rust faster. Distilled water has no impurities

 

[spitz04]

The antifreeze also has corrosion inhibitors and lubricates the water pump seals as well, any water is going to corrode any internals faster than something treated to prevent it. Yes, major problems if it freezes, like cracking the block..

 

[BrandonM7]

It's supposed to get below freezing for us TONIGHT. If your bike lives outside, you need to go outside right now and pull the drain plugs -- at least with nothing in it nothing can freeze and crack things. Then take your car tomorrow and buy some antifreeze and distilled water to refill it. If you leave pure water in it overnight tonight you may be in for some expensive shit tomorrow morning.

 

[Chicagois2]

oh sheist....it hopefully didn't freeze up.We'll see in the morning. I have no clue where the drain plug is

 

[the_gooey_1]

Well its not so much a plug as it is a couple bolts. Any kind of straight water is going to (in time) screw shit up. Aluminum is not a forgiving metal corrosion wise.

 

[anarion55]

If you don't use distilled water, you will eventually get a buildup of minerals (like rust and calcium) in the cooling system. At some point it will become bad enough to block off some of the smaller passages (like in the radiator), and reduce it's cooling ability.

Flush it & refill with 50-50 distilled water/coolant.

 

[zx6rguys]

You can get most of the water out by taking off your lower radiator hose if you need to get it out in a hurry. It won't get all of it out but enough to not cause a poblem if it freezes.

 

[skywalker]

Water Wetter has lubricants in it, too. If it doesn't get below freezing that much where you are, you can run distilled water with one normal sized bottle of water wetter, and you'll be fine. The distilled water won't hurt anything, even by itself, but it can boil over once the thermostat spikes over 212F. I'd reccomend using some pre-mixed 50/50 coolant (actually if you're anal, HD actually markets a REALLY good 50/50 coolant that has all sorts of lubricants and stuff...but it's like $20 for a gallon). Then dump a bottle of Water Wetter in with the 50/50 mix to top it off. Can't really do better than that for the street. But yeah, definately don't want that stuff freezing overnight.

I have your service manual kicking around here somewhere in PDF...I'll see if I can't find it for you...it has breakdowns of the coolant system so you can see what's what.

 

[spitz04]

I dont understand the buildup of minerals theory.. Yea, maybe a little bit, but the water only holds so much of these materials, the water isnt going to magically create more minerals in itself.. Why its such a big deal i'll never understand.. The water stays in a closed loop, its not like a water heater that will get these build ups over a 15 year course and plug up.

 

[skywalker]

Originally posted by spitz04
I dont understand the buildup of minerals theory.. Yea, maybe a little bit, but the water only holds so much of these materials, the water isnt going to magically create more minerals in itself.. Why its such a big deal i'll never understand.. The water stays in a closed loop, its not like a water heater that will get these build ups over a 15 year course and plug up.

I think it's more to do with how those minerals react with the aluminum in the radiator/engine block. Some of those water passages are pretty damn small.

 

[Chicagois2]

ok i'll drain it and flush it before I sell it...

 

[skywalker]

Originally posted by Chicagois2
ok i'll drain it and flush it before I sell it...

Yeah, man, I saw that...sucks that you have to sell it. Good luck with everything, though. :/

 

[Chicagois2]

Originally posted by dragknt



Yeah, man, I saw that...sucks that you have to sell it. Good luck with everything, though. :/

Well I don't want to, but at the same time... it's getting colder and colder and much less fun to ride. I was just gonna sell it, buy me a zx6r or something next summer... (cause I HAVE TO RIDE in the summer), I've still got the other 2 non-running bikes in Michigan...but neither of them are fast enough for me. I just need money really really bad this week, someone owes me money...and I owe 2 people money, so i have to pay the other two people, and i can't wait until payday. I wonder if the pawnshop would loan me some peso's. Maybe it wont get sold and that's a sign from the kawasaki-gods that I need to keep it lol.