Redline lubricants offers a product called Water Wetter. A radiator additive, it claims to make the engine run 20 Degress (F) cooler. Water Wetter has been around for quite some time, and since I live in a hot semi tropical climate, I am considering trying it in the SF car. Is is safe to use this product? Who has tried it?
Search the archives. Lots of talk about it. I use it with 100% distilled water but i live in california.
Have been using it for many years. It is safe and does help cars that have a marginal cooling system but will not fix a cooling system that is not working correctly. I also would not count on a 20 degree reduction.
thats whats in my car too! check out the website and read some of the things they say about redline products www.redlineoil.com reduces water temp as much as 30*
Ditto. Use it in all the old cars, from Jaguars to Vettes to Ferraris. It works. I add it to 50/50 anti-freeze/water mix and it does show about 10 deg. reduction in temps.
In the Palm Beach area (basically the same climate) I experience about a 5 degree cooler operating car (using a Mazda motor). 20 degrees is great, but not likely in this area. I use water wetter and water only, no antifreeze. BT
Speaking of which, don't get cute trying to use more than one bottle of Water Wetter. More is not better. You won't get even lower temps by using multiple bottles of WW. The chemical process only gets aided once as far as I know. Using more than one bottle of WW is a sign that you are admitting that something is broken that you aren't fixxing.
Water wetter seems to be a staple addition to the cooling systems on cars on the vintage racing circuit. Never heard of a problem with its use.
Been using water wetter for a while in a lot of different cars without incident. I have heard of people having some problems with royal purples coolant additive.
I was going to ask this question about adding water wetter that has 50/50 in the system, I guess it's safe since you already done it. I thought water wetter only works best with just distilled water. How many bottle did you use? thanks.
If you remove the engine thermostat, and replace it with some sort of restriction that creates 15 psi. pressure inside the block at 6,000 RPM. Refill the radiator and system with pure water. Run engine and measure temperature. If you then drain some of the water and then add Water Wetter to replace the drained water, would the temperature drop, go higher, or remain the same?
NEVER remove the thermostat. You obviously don't understand how a cooling system works. The coolant is circulated through the system by the pump, no pressure is created by it (imagine a wheel turning). The thermostat is a variable temperature controlled orifice that regulates how fast the circulation happens, if the system is healthy it keeps things in balance. If it's not working properly, you have work to do. Water Wetter improves the heat transfer between the liquid coolant and the metal surfaces inside the system, it's not magic, more like how soap helps water get your hands clean by reducing surface tension. In most cars it won't make much difference because the thermostat will just modulate the effect. It's real benefit is in cars with somewhat marginal cooling systems that need a real boost in efficiency. Removing a thermostat can actually reduce the efficiency of a cooling system, especially in cars with a particular type of thermostat that is intended to close off one passage in the open position that is used during warmup. The pressure in a cooling system is only from the expansion of the fluid due to heat. The pump produces almost no pressure.
Water wetter for diesels is designed for use with antifreeze. Many race organizations do not allow any coolant besides water, but allow water wetter.
What you are saying as mostly valid for street cars. But on race cars the whole game is changed: No thermostat for reliabilty. Max heat possible with max timing and min grill opening. And as far as 15 psi pressure goes, you will just have to see it to believe it when a restricted return to the radiator to build pressure in the block runs MUCH cooler than unrestricted. So you and mackb61 are both right. Jay
Yes, Bill. That's what Redline recommends. 1 bottle of WW and distilled water. No antifreeze. However it seems to work fine with this mixture too. Thanks for the feedback. I'll try it.
This is due to the slippery nature of antifreeze. If they could ban oil from the track they certainly would.
WRONG! the restriction has nothing to do with pressure. It is all about increasing residence time, slowing down the flow. In a racecar the operating range is narrower and the restrictor acts like an open thermostat. The 15 psi comes from the heat.
I don't argue on the internet, so I won't. But try to lose the caps when you say "wrong" and "the restriction has nothing to do with pressure" in the same sentence. How about we agree to call it "resistance", which is a word that satisfies all of yours and my criteria. Jay
Make sure your coolant dilution is 50/50. While straight water with Water Wetter may offer better heat transfer, coolant also provides freeze protection, lubrication for the water pump and corrosion protection. I don't think straight water is advisable. Brian (Rifledriver), care to comment on that one? I think one problem area is people going with too strong a concentration of coolant, which I believe, can inhibit heat transfer.
Imagine you have a garden hose and you’re holding it watering the grass. The faucet is turned on full. There is no nozzle screwed onto the hose end. Water coming out of the hose end you are holding squirts a solid 5/8” diameter stream of water 4 ft. in front of you. Hose is flowing 10 gpm. You now place your finger over the end of the hose where the water is exiting as you want to water way in the corner 8 ft. away without moving. What happens to pressure and flow? In my race boat engine I run a restrictor to get 25 psi water pressure inside the block, and I use the entire lake as my radiator. With 0 pressure in the block it would overheat. Image Unavailable, Please Login
