Battery water like AGS in radiator?

[faheemakbar18]

Salaam.

I have read on this forums at multiple posts that we can use battery water from AGS and Exide as they are distilled water.

Yesterday I got head gasket replacement along with water pump and its pipe and decided to go with AGS Battery tonic

On bottle it says
PH 7.0 +/- 0.25
TDS less than 15

But now in morning a noticed particles like fungus roaming in the reservoir bottle.

Also, same kind but bigger sludges also started popping up from radiator cap area like when cleaning the radiator with some flush.

I was searching and found one daraz review mentioning ph of 6.1

So anyone else using same water can please share their insights on long term usage of this water?

Also sorry for tagging you @nfssaad but I read your comments on much older post (2020) about using same water. Would be great to hear your long term experience.

[sardarg]

coolant has chemical formulation (combination of anti rust and anti freeze) please use coolant in cooling system only.

plain water of any pH value will develop rust and corrosion will damage the engine cooling system by all means.

[faheemakbar18]

That's the plan

I have bought this car start of this month. Prev owner was using plain water. I got its heater core and radiator service. next day fan didn't work or something, car was overheated and gasket blown. on opening, it was revealed that some coolant passages are blocked. water body rusted and so its pipe. I got them opened, water pump and the pipe changed. also installed all the vacuum pipes which were missing or coolant connections which were blocked

I wanted to make sure that there's no leakage in the system as coolant is expensive stuff. that's why I added the distilled water as its supposed to be better than plain water.

[faheemakbar18]

Some pics

Reservoir bottle didn't had this with plain water

After throttling for a while

[nfssaad]

you are either reading the incomplete versions of the posts or the wrong post.

AGS battery tonic is not at all meant to be used alone as a coolant replacement.

it is to be used to prepare coolant. CALTEX coolant comes in concentrated form and needs to be mixed with deionized/distilled water such as AGS battery tonic, in the ratio 50:50.

even short term usage of only water in the cooling system will show rusting

[nfssaad]

leftover rust/sludge deposits in the system are being moved around, hence you are seeing deposits in the bottle.

i would recommend a full thorough flush of the cooling system.

in case you are worried about leakages, you need to pressure test the system with compressed air and a pressure gauge. you can just use water in the system for that.

once you are sure of no leakages, you can then pour in the coolant.

[faheemakbar18]

Thanks sir. I'm aware water alone cannot be used as a coolant replacement. And I also plan on using the Caltex concentrate with hopefully ags Battery tonic, after reading your comments on a post

For test run only, I poured this to rule out leakage, and I did found a hose leaking today, so I tightened it.

Everything except radiator hoses and block channels are either new or serviced. But I'll still get a thorough flush, also pressure test.

The slightly acidic nature got my attention that maybe it's working to remove those sludges. And might affect in long term

Lastly I can assume from your comment that you have a good experience with both caltex coolant and ags tonic in a long run since that posts were from 2020.

Again thank you for explaining it.

[pwuser162557941033]

That's not a very large deviation from neutral pH. Coolant is what helps you keep metals from corroding and is formulated with reserve alkalinity (along with buffers, other chemical compounds) to help protect automotive metals and neutralize inevitable acid contamination from exhaust gases or glycol oxidation.

Flushing a system with acid will give it a good cleaning. I posted about doing something similar to my Civic that had been run on tap water forever, then filled in Havoline XLC. I mixed concentrate with known distilled water, but battery water, if from a trustworthy source, is fine too.

Even then, alkalinity isn't an exact measure of the "life" of a coolant. It's a pretty careful formulation.

[faheemakbar18]

I did contact the AGS and this is what they have to say

So we can assume that the daraz reviewer meter wasn't accurate.

Also, once I am done with fixing leakage of coolant, I will be using the Caltex coolant along with distilled water.

Ps. Can you share your source for distilled water?

[nfssaad]

a pressure cooker,

some tubing... make your own distilled water

[helper_learner]

If you are in Karachi, do this in morning, since you need gas to boil the water

[xxsaadxx]

Hi. I have used AGS Battery Tonic in the past with considerable success. About to do the same today. Please note that pure water has a pH of 5.5 because CO2 from atmosphere gets dissolved into it forming carbonic acid. Always use coolant in the system and dilute it to 50 50 mix using good quality distilled water. The coolant contains anti-rust additives.

Also, I would recommend never to flush the cooling system with even any mild acid, as it will eat away any calcium / mineral deposits which are built up from past use and may result in leaky water body...

[the_mira_guy_08]

Is it fine to use battery water along with a radiator flush to clean the cooling system?

[muflah]

I have been using AGS battery water with coolent for a while but since my car is drinking the mixture so now I'm mostly left with distilled water in the system. But so far I have not observed any unusual changes in the liquid.