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YACT: antifreeze?

C

crumpet19

Platinum Member
I'm mechanically challenged when it comes to vehicles.
Lets assume that my car is drastically low on coolant. There is practically nothing in the reservoir and I can see into the radiator.

Lets also assume that I'm broke and need to drive ~300mi today. Am I safe putting water into the reservoir? Or do i need to break out the credit card and buy some antifreeze? If so, how do you mix the antifreeze (how many parts per part water)?

I like in Tulsa, OK.
It's an '89 Chevy Corsica with 186K on it. The only "checking out" I'm going to be doing is with a baseball bat.


thanks everyone.
 
umm well 300 mi is alot to drive on just water, do u live in a hot climate? I would prob take the Credit Card out and get the anti-freeze, your going to have to buy it sooner or later, and about the mixing with water, i uselly don;t i just put anti-freeze by its self, now i don't know if that is right or wrong, but thats how i have done it.

Dogg

Edit: u could ask a friend for some
 
Water will work fine. Antifreeze exists to keep the radiator from freezing in cold climates, or boiling over when the engine gets very hot, and to prevent corrosion.

It's probably not freezing wherever you are at this time of year, and corrosion won't be a problem with jsut using water for a few days. However, if it's really hot outside, or your car has a tendancy to run very warm, you may have a boiling over problem, but it's very unlikely.

You should, however, try to add some antifreeze as soon as you get the chance, solely to keep the plain water from rusting your radiator away.
 
Water should be fine in the short run. I always mixed my antifreeze 50/50 but that was for Canadian winters so you might not need it quite that much. Antifreeze is only a few $$ per gallon, can't afford that?

mixing with water, i uselly don;t i just put anti-freeze by its self,
Click to expand...
Do not do this unless your buying premix
 
Originally posted by: PunDogg
umm well 300 mi is alot to drive on just water, do u live in a hot climate? I would prob take the Credit Card out and get the anti-freeze, your going to have to buy it sooner or later, and about the mixing with water, i uselly don;t i just put anti-freeze by its self, now i don't know if that is right or wrong, but thats how i have done it.

Dogg

Edit: u could ask a friend for some
Click to expand...

Considering that you can't even read the directions on the back of the antifreeze bottle that say to mix it with water, I don't think I'd trust your advice on the matter.
 
Edit: Holy crap, I type slowly.

Once you get home, I would recommend getting your system checked out, as coolant doesn't just disappear. You probably have a leak someplace.
 
Water is fine, but it won't prevent freezing. Freeze plugs are a SOB to change.

Use water now, and when it starts getting cold, drain it and use a straight 50/50 mixture.
 
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