Sun, 13 Feb 2005 12:24:55 -0500
From:    Ken Lewis <kdlewis_wasting_time@ACCESS4LESS.NET>
Subject: Re: Coolant

Found this on the internet, FWIW.

" Distilled or deionized water is very aggressive Water "wants" to
contain minerals and distilled water will attack cast iron and aluminum
far more aggressively than mildly hard tap water. "

Indeed....and distilled water will also attack lead which has
implications for any soldered joints in radiators.
However, this is only in it's pure form. Mix distilled water with VW
coolant or any other glycol based coolant and distilled water poses no
problem in this regard.
In fact, distilled water only requires something like a 5% additive
(less glycol than it would take to raise the boiling temp.) to nullify
the aggressive effects.

Cheers,
Steve O
NSW Australia
'92 Transporter WBX Kombi
'00 Transporter Double Cab
'03 Transporter Double Cab (work truck)
'78 Landrover Series 3 Soft top ute. (ex-Aust Army)