Temporarily Use Water in Place of G12 Coolant?

[daok808]

I drove to work today and once I parked the car, I noticed the G12 coolant leaking onto the ground. There is now a puddle of it and the G12 reservoir is empty. Would it be okay to fill the reservoir up with water just to get home where I can work on it? I live about a 30 min drive away.

[rtl5009]

I drove to work today and once I parked the car, I noticed the G12 coolant leaking onto the ground. There is now a puddle of it and the G12 reservoir is empty. Would it be okay to fill the reservoir up with water just to get home where I can work on it? I live about a 30 min drive away.

If you have zero risk of freezing, you will be ok. Well you are in Hawaii....

[jaychen]

it will be fine.

[Stubek]

try to use deionized water if you can. If you can't and you are really only driving the 30 miles to get the G12, you will be fine. If you run straight tap water in there for a couple weeks of couple hundred miles, you want to flush your radiator and coolant system really good to get out any rust and minerals before putting the G12 back in.

[Turbwhistle]

you can probably run pure water all year. As long as you don't see temps below freezing.

[034Motorsport]

I drove to work today and once I parked the car, I noticed the G12 coolant leaking onto the ground. There is now a puddle of it and the G12 reservoir is empty. Would it be okay to fill the reservoir up with water just to get home where I can work on it? I live about a 30 min drive away.

Certainly. Use distilled water if you can, or at least something that has been filtered. Tap water can create deposits and such with the calcium, etc.

Car can be run entirely on water if you really need it to, but it won't have the cooling capacity, will steam more, and can freeze.

[daok808]

Thanks for the help, guys! I'm in Hawaii so it most likely won't freeze, haha.

[rtl5009]

Max-

I thought that pure water actually cooled better than a mix of water/antifreeze.....?

I remember doing thermo problem in freshmen chem that proved that...ahhh those were the best days

[jeffrey146]

I have hear that the audi coolant has a special lube in it. I would say it is safe to go home but beyond that i would use the pink.

[mr.awesome]

-_-...not to be that guy..but got ahead and use it. If you're driving an S4 and it breaks it won't be because you used water instead of coolant. Where the hell is everyone getting distilled water for their cars anyways?

[MikeyB3]

-_-...not to be that guy..but got ahead and use it. If you're driving an S4 and it breaks it won't be because you used water instead of coolant. Where the hell is everyone getting distilled water for their cars anyways?

Grocery store has it.

[Fourplay]

Max-

I thought that pure water actually cooled better than a mix of water/antifreeze.....?

I remember doing thermo problem in freshmen chem that proved that...ahhh those were the best days

Yep, pure water cools better than G12. However, G12 protects against corrosion, lubricates, and raises the boiling point of the mix.

You also don't have to use distilled water (although I would recommend it). G12 is specially formulated to protect the cooling system against hard (mineral filled) water, such as tap water. Water with too many minerals for G12 to compensate for will leave deposits, which will ruin your cooling system.

[S4UCE]

I have hear that the audi coolant has a special lube in it. I would say it is safe to go home but beyond that i would use the pink.

This is a great post