added tap water to coolant

[FandomWanderer42]

so i know everyone says don't use tap water and stick with oem coolant but here's the deal i had a coolant leak found it fixed it but ended up adding maybe a third of the system's total capacity with tap water system was flushed and filled with oem coolant about a year ago and i really don't feel like doing that whole process again my plan now is to just grab some concentrated type 2 coolant and top everything off to balance it out i know it's not perfect but is it really that bad i'm mostly worried about mineral deposits from the tap water or if this is gonna mess with the coolant's effectiveness car's an 06 and i'm in texas so hard freezes are rare but summers are brutal gauge shows everything running normal so far anyone else done something similar or got advice on what to watch out for

 

[paradiseisland]

short term you probably wont have any issues but on the long run i wouldn't rule out corrosion or deposits. sure you ll get some balance when you add the contentrated stuff but youll still have some tap watter there. my advice is to do a flush just to be safe

 

[seoulgoodman]

short term you probably wont have any issues but on the long run i wouldn't rule out corrosion or deposits. sure you ll get some balance when you add the contentrated stuff but youll still have some tap watter there. my advice is to do a flush just to be safe

I agree, you might have problems eventually. It should be just a quick fix, don't actually maintain it like that. Just go for the standard maintenance.

 

[Chadonis-of-Maine]

Using tap water in coolant isn't ideal since minerals can create deposits that may affect cooling efficiency or clog small passages over time. If you're planning to top off with concentrated type 2 coolant, make sure you achieve the right mix ratio to preserve system balance and reduce risks. Watching out for any signs of overheating or abnormal temperature changes could help catch issues early. Have you checked the water's hardness to see if scaling might be a concern?

 

[CrashBandit123]

so i know everyone says don't use tap water and stick with oem coolant but here's the deal i had a coolant leak found it fixed it but ended up adding maybe a third of the system's total capacity with tap water system was flushed and filled with oem coolant about a year ago and i really don't feel like doing that whole process again my plan now is to just grab some concentrated type 2 coolant and top everything off to balance it out i know it's not perfect but is it really that bad i'm mostly worried about mineral deposits from the tap water or if this is gonna mess with the coolant's effectiveness car's an 06 and i'm in texas so hard freezes are rare but summers are brutal gauge shows everything running normal so far anyone else done something similar or got advice on what to watch out for

Okay, you do know that everyone says that you shouldn't use tap water in the coolant, but you ended up adding tap water to the coolant. Bro, why?

 

[algorithm88]

Like everyone else here, why? you may not have problems now but we don't know what will happen in the future. I sure hope you've done a flush already

 

[yingyangtictactoe]

Okay, you do know that everyone says that you shouldn't use tap water in the coolant, but you ended up adding tap water to the coolant. Bro, why?

Bro made a cocktail out of tap water and coolant just to balance everything out

 

[CR-VWanderer]

so i know everyone says don't use tap water and stick with oem coolant but here's the deal i had a coolant leak found it fixed it but ended up adding maybe a third of the system's total capacity with tap water system was flushed and filled with oem coolant about a year ago and i really don't feel like doing that whole process again my plan now is to just grab some concentrated type 2 coolant and top everything off to balance it out i know it's not perfect but is it really that bad i'm mostly worried about mineral deposits from the tap water or if this is gonna mess with the coolant's effectiveness car's an 06 and i'm in texas so hard freezes are rare but summers are brutal gauge shows everything running normal so far anyone else done something similar or got advice on what to watch out for

I've had to do something like that in a hurry before, using a bit of tap water won't ruin things right away, especially if your levels are stable. The main concern is that minerals can build up over time. Adding some concentrated Type 2 is a great way to restore balance. Just be mindful of the temperatures this summer. When you do a full flush next time, stick with distilled water to prevent scaling.

 

[compactcrawler]

Agreed, a bit of tap water won't cause immediate harm. You can still adjust with Type 2 concentrate now and switch to distilled for the next full flush