Antifreeze liquids are commonly known as engine coolants. They work as an additive to cool down your car engine. It also lowers the freezing point of any water-based liquid. Usually, manufacturers instruct that you mix water with the coolant or the antifreeze. However, this often leads to confusion as many often wonder if they can mix antifreeze with their drinking water.

Sadly, the answer is No. You cannot and should not mix drinking water with your antifreeze solution. Read on to learn how antifreeze works and why you should never mix drinking water with it.

How Antifreeze Work?

Antifreeze or engine coolant is a liquid that helps keep the engine from freezing, cools it down, and stops it from rusting. It’s really important in cars. Engines create a lot of heat when they work. Some of this heat gets out of the exhaust, but a lot stays inside the engine.

Cars have a special system to cool the engine. It has passages, a water pump, a thermostat, and a radiator. The water pump moves the coolant around. The thermostat makes sure the coolant is the right temperature. The radiator cools the coolant down.

Why You Should Not Mix Water with Antifreeze?

Now we all know that water is a good cooling agent. Hence the question arises, why we can’t mix it with antifreeze or better, use it in antifreeze’s place. However, water can get too cold. And when it happens, it can break a lot of things. And without help, it can make the engine rusty. Coolant has stuff to stop this. That’s why you mix coolant with water.

The coolant moves through the system. It goes from the radiator to the engine and back again. It gets really hot in the engine, and the thermostat helps it cool down. All this movement can make the system rusty over time. This is especially true when you mix drinking water with antifreeze or coolant. With rust and mineral buildup, the radiator will become less effective in cooling your engine. This in turn will significantly decrease your engine’s service life.

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers – FAQs

What should you mix with antifreeze or coolant?

Due to rust and mineral buildup risks with tap water, you should use mineral or de-ionized water with your antifreeze liquid.

What is the ratio of antifreeze to water?

Ideally, the ratio between antifreeze and water should be 50 – 50. However, with extreme climate conditions, the ratio might change. Therefore, check your vehicle owner’s manual for exact figures.

End Notes

Unless it’s an emergency, never mix drinking water or even tap with your antifreeze or coolant solution. Make sure that you are well-informed of the actual water and coolant ratio and apply de-ionized or mineral water in appropriate ratio. If for some reaosn, you need to use drinking water with the antifreeze liquid, drain the entire thing and refill with new solution as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading!