If the fish had successfully deoxygenated the water, they would be dead!

The water collected by the de-humidifier is what I used to replace the coolant after my thermostat housing sprung a leak and I had to fit a new one.

You make it sound like wartime. I would guess a bottle of deionised (not expensive) would be cleaner than what dribbles off your dehumidifier ?

I'm with John F on this, use the same antifreeze for the lifetime of the car and if you need some for top ups what's wrong with getting some from you local scrapyard out of a scrapped car? Plenty good enough.

It's like new tyres, get the cheapest Chinese rubbish you can find or of course go to your local scrapyard, plenty of choice there.

Oil, go to Wilcos and buy some 20W/50 for £2 a gallon, none of this expensive synthetic stuff for us clever savers. Or try the local etc......

Water,what's wrong with good old tap. I went for a meal the other night and they tried to sell me some fancy bottled stuff. You must be joking said I, tap water is good enough for me and put some ice and lemon in while you're at it.

Some folk have money to burn.

Point by point:

I'm with John F on this, use the same antifreeze for the lifetime of the car and if you need some for top ups what's wrong with getting some from you local scrapyard out of a scrapped car? Plenty good enough.

To repeat what I and others have said antifreeze has a max life. To use it beyond that will risk freezing or corroding your engine.

It's like new tyres, get the cheapest Chinese rubbish you can find or of course go to your local scrapyard, plenty of choice there.

Cheap Chinese tyres may be black and hold air but they tend to be poor in the wet and some are difficult or even impossible to balance. Scrapyard tyres could be off a car that has been in a serious accident. Do you honestly wish to compromise the safety of yourself and others.

Oil, go to Wilcos and buy some 20W/50 for £2 a gallon, none of this expensive synthetic stuff for us clever savers. Or try the local etc......

20w50 might have been OK in the 60's but now manufacturers have a specific oil that matches their engines needs. Putting in the wrong stuff is a recipe for disaster.

No wonder there are so many issues on this site that should could have been avoided through propper maintenance.

Water,what's wrong with good old tap. I went for a meal the other night and they tried to sell me some fancy bottled stuff. You must be joking said I, tap water is good enough for me and put some ice and lemon in while you're at it.

As for water I have been using tap water in engines all my life and not had a problem. But I don't use it strait from the tap, I leave it for a few days to allow all the trapped air out, trapped air that creates air locks in the engine and causes many issues.

And the tap water is drained every 2 years when I renew the antifreeze.

As for the cost of all this, changing the antifreeze, using the correct oil grade/spec (don't use expensive brand names - always look for offers - ASDA in at the moement), avoiding cheap ditchfinder tyres amounts to probably an extra £40 a year to my annual motoring costs - a fill up at ASDA or Tesco and my car is properly maintained and safe.

Edited by skidpan on 15/11/2015 at 08:57