Thread: Honda Civic Aluminum Radiator Impressions

I would use distilled water in desert climates like here in EP. No matter what, water has better heat dissipation characteristics than even diluted coolant does.

A bottle of water wetter and diluted water worked great for me in 110* temps at 4000ft. asl.

The only bad part of this, is the boiling point of water (even under 14psi of pressure) still isn't what coolant is. So though you gain a little in cooling efficiency, if you exceed boiling point you will overheat in a matter of seconds.

anyone know the boiling point of water under certain pressures? I know at high elevation here it is around 190*F with about 12psi ambient pressure. 14.7psi ambient puts it around 212*F right? So 14psi and 14.7 comes to around 28.7psi total. This puts the boiling point at... just a guess, 250*F.

Of course by that time the motor is half melted anyway huh?

I found this: 120*C for 14psig. so my guess was remarkably close. 250*F is 121*C.