MericaMade
Active Member
When ya'll do a flush do you prefer distilled water or hose water?
ATTENTION: Know Your Jeep JK Wrangler Coolants and Save Your Engine!
- Thread starter NFRs2000NYC
- Start date
FFPulley77
Hooked
I did distilled when I flushed mine. I read somewhere that hose water could lead to corrosion or something down the road… don’t know how true it is, but I didn’t want to risk it.
Spazbyt
Hooked
I have heard two different thoughts on this. I'm still not sure what camp I'm in.
The first is the advantage of distilled water over tap is that it won't contain minerals and additives in it to potentially build up or negatively react with engine components or coolant. Same reason you don't use tap water in batteries I would assume.
The second is that water dissolves more substances than any other know liquid so it's only going to be "denatured" or "distilled" until you pour it out of the plastic jug.
I try to use distilled but realistically that rarely happens for me.
MericaMade
Active Member
Yeah I read some very contradicting opinions just doing a quick Google search. Some say using hose water will be the death of your vehicle and other say using distilled can just be as bad LOL.
BlacknRedJK
Member
Question for all those smarter than me: water pump said no more and I’m doing all new coolant while I’m at it. I want to confirm that for a 2010 JK, running Mopar 68051212AC will not be problematic. Bottle says 5 year/ 100,000 miles and I believe it is the HOAT. The part number is where I’m hung up as I have only been able to find it in a case of 6, 1 gallon bottles, from everything I can tell, it is the same coolant but the part number is different due to the being sold in a case of 6 gallons. Any guidance here?
Sinlessearth
New member
First, I'll admit I didn't read all 14 pages of this thread but...has anyone just gave up on the HOAT/OAT concerns and just went with a Prestone All Vehicle coolant, good for 10yr/300,000 miles for the regular stuff and 15yr/350,000 for the MAX? I started using it in my Ram and I think the next time I do anything coolant related on the Jeep, I'll flush it then just swap to the Prestone. Just curious on other's thoughts.
jeeeep
Hooked
been using Prestone yellow 50/50 on my 2010 JKU since the 1st flush years ago
kevman65
Hooked
Just to add more debate to distilled or tap.
Tap water already has minerals (metals) in it, distilled and/or de-ionized water are deficient in minerals and will rob them from anything containing minerals (metals). I know that distilled and de-ionized water will attack any ferrous metal. They are usually ran through stainless steel tubing of 316L or higher grade.
Now, I do NOT know how it will react with aluminum, as it's non-ferrous, BUT there is always the risk it can start reacting with any bits that are ferrous and trapped in/on the thin sections of the radiator.
Okay, enough of that shit, party on......
Oh wait, this is also why you shouldn't drink distilled or de-ionized water, it will remove vital minerals from your system.
Tap water already has minerals (metals) in it, distilled and/or de-ionized water are deficient in minerals and will rob them from anything containing minerals (metals). I know that distilled and de-ionized water will attack any ferrous metal. They are usually ran through stainless steel tubing of 316L or higher grade.
Now, I do NOT know how it will react with aluminum, as it's non-ferrous, BUT there is always the risk it can start reacting with any bits that are ferrous and trapped in/on the thin sections of the radiator.
Okay, enough of that shit, party on......
Oh wait, this is also why you shouldn't drink distilled or de-ionized water, it will remove vital minerals from your system.
OverlanderJK
Resident Smartass
Can I drink the coolant instead?
Sinlessearth
New member
At least once
duktrx
Active Member
Distilled water and deionized water are not the same. Distilled water is safe to drink and is what you need to use in your cooling system. Deionized water can be consumed but will rob your body of vital minerals, will cause dehydration, and more than likely give you the shits. Deionized water is a strong solvent, typically stored in glass containers and in a manufacturing environment, transported in plastic piping/tubing. Its chemical properties can accelerate the degradation of steel, aluminum, and copper: so a poor choice for cooling systems.
kevman65
Hooked
Distilled water will still rob minerals from your body. Part of the distillation process removes minerals, water seeks out minerals.
De-ionized water (purified water) is generally ran in hygienic stainless steel tubing, not plastic, anywhere that needs to stay 100% sterile.
The point I was trying to make and you missed, with dissimilar metals in contact with distilled water in the cooling systems in modern engines, there could very well be bits of ferrous metals in the aluminum radiator, which is very thin wall, and the distilled water hitting cast iron which is already in an electrolysis fight with the aluminum, could cause unexpected problems.
woof359
Member
I think my 2012 was a month old when the check engine light started coming on , I knew I was gonna get a new head but after I got home with the new head it was low on anti freeze, o biggie I thought added almost 2 qts, then the heater started blowing cool air on hot I thought it was just the mode acuator like I had read, they ended up replacing the mode motor and the heater core (-:, other than that 11 year later, just normal service, well maybe paint on the door hinges curdling
JunctionRubi
New member
Any problems with it? I Have new block and flushed the radiator and heatercore. I like the idea of being able to go to any parts store and getting fluids for a top off.
jeeeep
Hooked
no problems with it
Cousin Clyde
Hooked
I’ve always bought 50/50 pre-diluted. About to go to the dealership now and buy concentrate because that’s all they have.
Do I seriously just mix this shit with distilled water? Hate dumping something from King Soopers into my engine. Inherently sketches me out.
Do I seriously just mix this shit with distilled water? Hate dumping something from King Soopers into my engine. Inherently sketches me out.
OverlanderJK
Resident Smartass
You could buy from Walmart, target, Kroger, Safeway, or something like that too.
Cousin Clyde
Hooked
Nice. Didn’t realize that.
Linda R
New member
Hey guys, I haven't seen a thread like this here, so I would like to post it up...if the higher powers find it useful enough, I think it should be a sticky, as a very innocent move can cause HAVOC on your entire cooling system/motor.....THIS IS BECOMING A VERY COMMON PROBLEM AND WILL ONLY GET WORSE...DEALERS DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND ARE JUST DUMPING IN WHATEVER COOLANT IS ON-HAND.
Ok, first thing is first...there are two types of coolants used on the JK....HOAT (Hybrid Organic Additive Technology,) and OAT (Organic Additive Technology.)
The first thing you need to tattoo in your brain is this.....THESE TWO COOLANTS DO NOT MIX, AND A CHEMICAL REACTION WILL CAUSE IT TO GEL (more on this later.)
JK's 2012 and down use HOAT coolant and 2013+ use OAT coolant. DO NOT COUNT ON THE DEALER KNOWING WHICH COOLANT YOUR RIG TAKES. CHANCES ARE THEY WILL PUT IN THE WRONG ONE, SO IF GETTING SERVICE, MAKE CERTAIN THE CORRECT COOLANT IS USED!
How to tell the difference...For whatever reason, chrysler doesnt label them as HOAT/OAT so you need to know the signs to make sure you are getting the correct one....
View attachment 60695
The first thing you are going to notice is the color....OAT (13+) is purple and HOAT (12-) is orange. The second thing you'll notice is that the HOAT coolant is rated for 5 years and 100K miles while the OAT is rated at 10 years 150K miles. The third thing you need to know is that the cap on the OAT is black while the cap on the HOAT is blue.
UPDATE, CURRENTLY, BOTH BOTTLES NOW USE BLACK CAPS, SO DO NOT RELY ON THIS BEING AN INDICATOR. I LEFT THE ABOVE IN IN CASE SOMEONE GETS A LEFTOVER BOTTLE FROM A THIRD PARTY
The fourth thing you will know (not from the pic) is that OAT is priced like gold. It is $50-$60 a gallon (yes you read that right) so unless you have an emergency, buy it online, where it goes from $29 a gallon or so. If you go to the dealer to buy OAT, and the price is too cheap, they gave you the wrong one.
A little background on the color so that the next part makes sense to you guys....As we know, FIAT is with Chrysler now. Fiat has been using orange colored OAT for years. When Chrysler switched to OAT, they didn't want dealers/people getting confused, so to differentiate the new OAT coolant with the chrysler original orange HOAT, they added a purple dye. As a result, due to a weird light refraction, the purple OAT looks weird (even orange) when looked at certain angles. You can even pop open your radiator cap on your 14 and the coolant looks so orange you'd bet me your jeep that it's orange....but it isn't.
You saw the pic above, now compare it to this pic....(same purple OAT)
View attachment 60704
Don't believe me yet? Check this out...open the overflow bottle, and you might see this....
View attachment 60707
Orange? You would definitely bet me your PR44 that it's orange right?
Now lets take a pic by moving the lightsource and changing the angle....
View attachment 60709
Still think it's orange?
The reason why it looks orange isn't too complicated...the actual coolant is Fiat's orange OAT with chrysler's added purple dye. When it is put into a container that isn't see-through or well lit, the sheen from the original orange coolant comes through which is why it looks orange on the surface. If you
suck a little out using a turkey baster, you will quickly see that it's purple. Think of it as a VERY ANNOYING optical illusion.
Now, why you should care....mixing the two yields to catastrophic results...if you catch it early enough, you may be able to squeak by with a quick and painful flush...however, if you run it for a little while (a month+) you can completely destroy your system by completely clogging it up.
This is what happens when you mix glycol based coolant (HOAT, 99% of coolant in stores, etc) with OAT....
View attachment 60711
The part number for OAT is 68163849AA
Here is a TSB from Chrysler:
To sum up....
If you own a 2012 and DOWN...you can run Chrysler HOAT coolant or any other Chrysler approved HOAT. There aren't many on the market, and the price is basically the same as chrysler's, so for warranty sake, run the OEM stuff. You need to make sure that if you buy from the dealer, you are getting HOAT coolant (blue cap, 100K mile, orange, $14 pricetag) and if the dealer is refilling yours for free, make SURE you tell them to use HOAT....OAT is your only kryptonite.
If you own a 2013 and up, you MUST USE Chrysler OAT coolant. If you are out on the trail, and need to top off, use distilled water to limp you home, do NOT use coolant from your buddy's truck, etc. If you are the kind of wheeler that carries spare fluids, carry a bottle of OAT with you. If you absolutely MUST use glycol based coolant, flush it out ASAP as soon as you get back home, and refill with the correct coolant. When at the dealer purchasing, make sure you are walking home with the correct bottle (black cap, purple, 10 year 150K label and expensive) and if they are topping off, inform them that you want to make sure they use OAT coolant.
I hope this post helps some members along the way!
Dave