What Hombres Ruin said. I run distilled water Water Wetter mix only in my blown flathead - never a problem and dont even have a mech fan. The WW will luricate the water pump sufficently. Ethyl/Glycol coolant will NOT cool as well as plain water period. But it will help prevent freezing if u live in colder climates. Rat
I agree, water wetter never dropped the temps on anything I ever used it in. Put it in my flathead and never had any luck with it, and used it again in my 460 as a last-ditch effort of my heating problem on the road and again didn't work for me. Don't believe I'll be spending any more money on it. JayD
I have had similar problems with water wetter in our race cars corroding the aluminum radiator. After some research into the issue of "surfectants " I discovered water soluable oil. 4 oz in the radiator lowers temps significantly and ends the corrosion problem. I use it in everything. Race cars get straight water with 4 oz added.( Here in Ca antifreeze is not allowed in race cars on the dirt tracks..."harmful to the enviorment "..LOL ) The street cars do get a 50/50 mix of antifreeze + 4 oz. Dave
Just did a search and found this thread... Bought a bottle of the Red-Line Water Wetter... Pretty much running a 50/50 mixture in my 62 Bonneville Safari ( later model Pontiac 400 with turbo 400 automatic... temp runs around 200... will climb a small amount in hotter weather... I want to try and drop the temp some, running a 19" Flex-a-Lite fan.... Should I use the full bottle in my cooling system ? It's says 1 once per quart(3-4 cap fulls) Its uses about 16 quarts of fluid in my system .
Huh? Yup they spent tons of money and time just to dupe the unsuspecting public. The many tests done by companies and uses alike are all in cahoots too. I use WW and I have seen from 5-12 deg/F drops measured before and right after with a digital infared temp gage. That is proof it does work. I can assure you that I am not alone in this!
Plain water is best to dissipate heat But plain water will not lubricate your water pump or protect metal and aluminum components Being on the road every day and traversing all the lower 48 states ... I start with a thorough cooling system backflush using Preston products and install the Prestone 'backflush t kit ' in my heater hose Then I drain the block using the factory drain plugs on each side - then I flush the block again I run distilled water - only one gallon of straight coolant and a bottle of Prestone coolant treatment I use a 10 pound radiator cap and watch my temp gauge There is some technical discussion as to whether it is better to use tap water or distilled water - distilled water is referred to by some as " sacrificial water " that will actually attract more corrosion than tap water with minerals Some folks install sacrificial anodes in their cooling system so corrosion is directed to a specific point Jim
Ditto, # 5, and #6.... definitely use the 50/50 mix...water pump lube as well as corrosion inhibitors....There is no "advantage", to not using "anti freeze", no matter the climate. 4TTRUK
Years ago I tried some of the products that claimed to lower radiator temperatures , like -40 Degrees, Water Wetter, etc. I didn't notice any difference to be honest so I stopped using them. We have been adding a bottle of Bar's Leaks Anti Rust additive to the radiator and I can see where it is keeping the insides of things much cleaner and rustfree. During that time when we were tearing my Son's Olds down looking for the oil consumption problem we found that the cooling system was already getting rusty inside, just after a few hundred miles. The spring inside the lower hose was a rusty mess for example. Then we started using the Anti Rust because a guy at a car show recommended it, and the next time we tore down the engine it was spotless inside. The new spring in the lower hose was still shiny bare metal. Don
well drove the 62 Poncho on 100 mile round trip to a Pontiac Show-n-Shine in Bothell... The WW seemed to help some what with engine temp....I may try it in my 35 Ford also...But I want to drive the 62 Pontiac some more to form a real opinion on it..hmm
I wanna jump in on this! I have personally seen a temp change by using the "purple ice" but it was on a intercooler for a supercharger? it was like 10-12 deg lower! that has wowed me ever since but i have personally tried it with no luck at all but my cooling system has had many small issues which ive been working on them fixing one or two problems at a time to the point that i'm at now? I drive my car Quite a bit highway and stop n go, traffic, etc. right now its on pump gas and I'm tryin not to have to put race fuel in it on the xpressway it takes a while before it reaches 190 deg but then it seems like it doesnt take long before it is at 200 then if you get off the xpressway it'll go 210 and stay till you hit slow movin traffic then it'll slowly creep up anything above 210 scares the livin crap outta me so i stop and let her cool down which takes for ever? quick run down: 454 .060 over 6-71 blower mezier electric 57 gpm pump 21x19 aluminum radiator, 2- 10" electric spal fans, alum fan shroud 1/2" and covers the complete rad core, pump gas, 32 deg total timing fully advanced, mechanical advance, aluminum dart pro 1 heads,3-1/2" very free flowin exhaust, 5/8" restrictor in place of the t-stat, no water leaks at all, 21lb cap, straight water, (looking to change to 50/50 mix antifreeze and purple ice) header wrap on the headers/exhaust, 8:1 compression, the fuel mix is right spot on in the carb dept. per dyno air fuel #'s...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thnx in advance!
The only thing that jumps out at me in that whole list of parts is the radiator size. 19 x 21 is a little small for a big block, especially a blown big block. Can you get a 19 x 24 in there? That way you could run two 12 inch Spals and also add some water capacity to the system. I imagine your fans are pullers (behind the radiator) which is good. How are you controlling them ? Don
don i wish i had more room but ive hacked every inch at an attemp to get anything bigger in that i can with no luck? that is the size of the cores. yes they are pullers and they are both on a relay powered on by a switch (simple) no temp switch? yup it only holds arround 5 gallons of water total...I've thought about adding a heater just for extra capacity and even thought about adding a funnel in front of the radiator directing air in?my under the hood temps are better since i did the header wrap but still warmer than i expected?
I wire mine the same way as you, just a switch and relay. We haven't had the best luck with any brand automatic fan controller, so I just make it simple and remember to turn the fan on when needed. It could be that hot air is not escaping your engine compartment. You have a lot of motor in there, plus headers and a lot of other stuff that blocks the places where hot air can exit. If this is the Ford in your avatar have you considered putting some holesaw holes in the inner fender panels ? Just for giggles, maybe pull the hood off and go for a long ride and see what temps you get. Don
yeah it my ford and the whole doghouse would have to come off and I havent got any inner fenders...I thought about having a custom double thick radiator made for more capacity or tryin to make mine a double pass like from afco?or doing a intercooler under my blower? I'll send ya a couple pics after while thanks for your help! oh forgot to mention it reached over 100 for a few weeks here in ky this summer so i didnt even bother tryin to drive around cause even in our upper 80's lower 90's its doin good to be 200 deg on the gauge?
From what I was told at the Pontiac show I was at, the Pontiac seem to run way warmer 200 or so.... The guy I spoke with was having the same issues and couldn't understand why they run warmer that say a SBC/SBF ? or maybe even BBC or BBF. The water wetter did help to some point...
I'm like you guys, I don't like it when my hot rod gets anywhere above 180-190, but I might be old fashioned on that thinking. My daily driver runs at 208-210 and when I asked the dealer about it he said that is where they are designed to run now. My Son's Vette runs at about 210 too, and he said that is where it is supposed to be. So maybe if ours get up to 210 it isn't all that bad. Don
Engine coolant that claims to contain lubricants to lube waterpump bearings is so much bullshit. Water pump bearings are sealed bearings and do not require external lubricant. as for Wetter Water lowering coolant temperatures I have tried numerous of those types of products and have not found any that do what they claim. For what's it's worth.
I was driving our 2009 Chevy full size shop truck today(V6 ugh), I looked at the temp gauge it to was running just over 200 or so go figure.
""5/8" restrictor in place of the t-stat"" I would use a good quality [i.e. expensive] thermostat and a mechanical water pump with good impeller...The electric water pump combined with the 5/8 restrictor only allows for one rate of water flow regardless of engine and/or vehicle speed..As in previous post radiator is small and if you go for a replacement be sure the tubes are large [over 1", 1-1/2" best]..Pretty sure 57's still used a radiator core support/front fender mount? Make a wider one to fit a larger radiator as since no inner fender wells your not using the heater/fresh air ducts anyways? [grin] I'd run a mechanical fan too but thats just me preference..
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