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rain water still good for alloy blocks etc ?

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 10:23 am
by steptoe
I dunno if it is an old wifes tale being spread long ago but was said rain water was better for radiators than treated tap water. The tale is as old as cast iron blocks and heads in our old family bangers of the day.

Anyone know if same is said for our alloy subes ?

Or does coolant concentrate eliminate any benefit of rainwater anway ?

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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:08 pm
by Silverbullet
I just use the pre-mixed stuff and be done with it :rolleyes: It's not that expensive.

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 1:28 pm
by Proton mouse
Rain water is better than tap water (sometimes way better, depending where you are in this big brown land) but it still contains some minerals that can lead to deposits in cooling systems so either use premix as SB does, or buy your coolant concentrate and only mix with demineralised water. Its only a few bucks for 4 litres from Coles etc.:)

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 3:23 pm
by Cliff R
I just buy the pre mixed stuff with a good boiling range and stick that in.

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 1:52 pm
by TOONGA
The biggest problem with water in Australia is the mineral salts content and we are lucky enough to have quite a large range of salts :)

Calcium, lime and phosphates are the main problem apparently.

Distilled, de-ionised or de-mineralised water is better than tap water but more expensive than rain water :)

If you change your coolant every 12 months and flush it with radiator flush following the directions on the bottle it wouldn't reallty matter what water you use.

Having said all that I use tectalloy gold concentrate (green) and tap water, in the brumby and the vortex. I have used this in every other Subaru I've owned apart from my wifey's Forester which has genuine Subaru coolant in it. I flush the engines and radiators every year and so far have not had a problem.

TOONGA

ghost of radiators past

Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:32 pm
by poprock1
Maybe it was before the industrial revolution:cool:

KM sherpa

Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:36 pm
by poprock1
Just joking. Auto Pro seemed discombobulated when I asked for swaybar rubbers for the Sherpa. Sales assistant asked why I was bothering with something that old. Any polite suggestions as to where to get them?

Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 6:11 am
by Nubaru
a suspension specialist, but would best have sample in hand with measure of bars diameter and maybe the brackets it has to fit into - see if they can match it up by specs rather than car specifically. Subaru dealer would also be a good start