N52 Engine - Cooling Substance?

Rsipad

Member
Sacramento, CA
Hi all,

I've been doing some trackdays in my Z4 for a bit. In my last 3 trackdays, all in quick succession, I experienced some issues with coolant temps going up to over 236F (113C). In all my prior trackdays, coolant has been stable with a peak of 215F (101C), only peaking after session ends.

In an attempt to reduce the temps, I decided to flush my system (no idea when it was last done and by who) and replaced the 50/50 coolant mix with distilled water, as temps here in Northern California only go down to freezing maybe 2 days of the year. It would also mean less of a mess to clean up on track if I were to have an incident :driving:

I also added water wetter, which my friend said lowered temps on his miata significantly (he had overheating issues before). I was just wondering if anyone had any experience running plain distilled water and/or water wetter on their N52. I am concerned that, in the long run, this could cause corrosion due to the block being partly made of magnesium.
 
I think it could cause big issues with corrosion..a lot of history of with earlier coolants really bad electrolytic corrosion..so water I would suggest is a no no..
 
+1 on what B21 says above.

The design of the engine and cooling system requires appropriate coolant mix - the glycol raises the boiling point of the coolant, and the additive mix prevents corrosion. This is even more important for those of us with N52 engines and magnesium-aluminum blocks.
 
Sounds good. Will put some antifreeze in there. Any idea what the lowest percentage I can safely run is? Again, not concerned about freezing. Mainly about corrosion.
 
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