Overheating in General

[Sando]

Following on from the other overheating thread, but on a more general note. Has anyone had any sucess using 'Water Wetter'?

I remember reading an article somewhere in the dim and distant past that this helped to reduce temperatures quite a bit. It also said that having too much antifreeze can also affect the overall temperature by as much as 30%

This obviously depends where you live and how much you need it!

Anyone tried any other concoctions? - Water cooled Bikes also use a special coolant fluid mix to keep their temperatures down, but I'm not sure whats in it........

:cool:

[David May]

Some of the more exotic racing engines (obviously F1 and some bikes) use much higher coolant temperatures in order to run smaller radiator areas, and use odd coolants and higher pressure to keep them from boiling. The engines themselves obviously need to be designed to run with a hotter coolant and the high pressures.
I don't suppose any production Alfa engines would take too kindly to having their coolant at 150°C, although the use of a high-pressure cap does give a limited tolerance of short-term overheating without pumping out the coolant. I've used a 1.4 bar (19 psi) cap to stop my 24V boiling while cooling down after races.

Dave May

[Matt No VAT]

I have collegues that race a Fulvia Zagato and they suffered overheating problems during races - until they used Water Wetter, since they put that into the cooling system all their problems have been solved. They swear by it.

[BETANUT]

Originally posted by Matt No VAT
I have collegues that race a Fulvia Zagato and they suffered overheating problems during races - until they used Water Wetter, since they put that into the cooling system all their problems have been solved. They swear by it.

Yep, have to agree. I have a friend who prepares a Grp. N Subaru Impreza and they started using (I think) redline water wetter and also swear by it. I plan on making some major changes to the way the cooling works in my VX engine (not in a Strat:( ) later this year and it's been suggested to me by a well known tuner that this stuff really works. Odd, as I'd always though it sounded a bit of a con before!

[colin artus]

Water Wetter.

This works in two ways; first, it breaks down surface tension allowing better transfer of heat. Second, it is an effective corrosion inhibitor which means that you can dispense with adding ethelyne glycol (antifreeze), which has a lesser heat capacity than water, thereby increasing the cooling ability of the system.
This is good for competition cars which don't usually need antifreeze. Unless you are prepared to change coolant during winter months then you won't get all the benefit.
Also this stuff won't cure a plumbing or installation mistake.

Colin

[Matt No VAT]

Now that the overheating issue is fixed I thought I'd just check what other peoples V6 powered cars run at tempreture wise - mine seems to kick the cooling fans in at about 97 degrees and switches off at just under 90. I'm assuming this is normal? (No coolant or Water Wetter involved yet but will probably use WW)

[David May]

Those temperatures sound a little low to me, but then it depends where in the system you are measuring. With the thermostat only opening around 93°C there is little point in having any fans on early (unless you like the noise or are trying to run the battery down) but then the cylinder head may be much warmer by the time a sensor around the radiator has reached 90°C.
I normally have mine set to start running (on a low speed) when the radiator inlet side reachers about 105°C.

Dave May

[Matt No VAT]

Thanks David, I'm not sure how accurate the guage is and also I have yet to replace the water temp sender ( I need the hands of a spider monkey to do that) the temps I mentioned are only rough estimates of what the actual temp is. But it sounds close enough - my concern was that its running hotter on idle than it should be.

Just headlights to fix now :)