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-   -   Water Wetter does it help and how did you use it? (https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/autocrossing-and-roadracing/2385269-water-wetter-does-it-help-and-how-did-you-use-it.html)

vettejockey 07-25-2009 08:56 AM

Water Wetter does it help and how did you use it?
 
I read the bottle and the directions were to add to your normal coolant mixture to lower temps. Has anyone done this, how much did you add, and what effect did it have?

coffey 07-25-2009 11:22 AM

The whole bottle. Dependent on the car it may help it cool better. It reduces surface tension and helps the coolant make better contact with parts of the system. This makes for better heat transfer.

davidfarmer 07-25-2009 03:08 PM

drain the radiator, add Water Wetter, refill fwith plain water.

Repeat but put antifreeze back in before Winter.

If you just drain the radiator, you only get about 1/2 the coolant out, which gives you some benefit of WaterWetter but also keeps some of the benefits of anti-freeze.

lbarnard 07-25-2009 03:40 PM

When you refill use distilled water

fred_S 07-25-2009 03:42 PM


Originally Posted by davidfarmer (Post 1570911601)
drain the radiator, add Water Wetter, refill fwith plain water.

Repeat but put antifreeze back in before Winter.

If you just drain the radiator, you only get about 1/2 the coolant out, which gives you some benefit of WaterWetter but also keeps some of the benefits of anti-freeze.

I think the coolant also works as a lubricant for the water pump, only water with 1 bottle of WaterWetter might not be the best solution. From my own experience I know it does help with cooling. In my old car (TVR Griffith 4.3 V8) I took out about half of the coolant, filled with water and tested the engine temps. Then took out a bit of coolant and put in WaterWetter, engine temp were lower, and after some spirited driving the engine cooled down quicker. So in my case it worked, it doesn't do miracles but it does help if your cooling is on the edge.

Robert@SPEEDSOUTH 07-25-2009 06:32 PM

Water Wetter acts as a lube for the water pump as well.

flink 07-25-2009 07:15 PM

I'm not sure that I trust Water Wetter's lubricating properties so I'm currently on 25% dexcool and one bottle of WW.
I haven't got the thing onto a track since doing this so I can't comment on the difference, but ECTs did seem a little
lower in street driving.

fwiw, this guy spent some time looking into the WW chemistry and came up with a thumbs-down: http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2338

jwt1603 07-26-2009 09:28 AM

I believe in it. My car is a 1994 C4, 383 autocross car. We had two drivers at a poorly attended event, maybe 16 drivers so we were running pretty much non-stop and we didn't have time to shut the car off between runs. 94 degree day in FL. Highest temp was 182. Fans brought it back down to 172 almost immediately.

4 bottles of WW and the rest Prestone premix.

wtknght1 07-27-2009 02:39 PM

I did back-to-back race tests years ago at the Savannah double national. I used Water Wetter on the 2d race. It made no difference. Save your money.

CP Thunder 07-27-2009 11:27 PM

Chris

What was your mix prior to the WW? I've always used two bottles of WW and distilled water........no problems except when the thing throws a belt!!!

coffey 07-28-2009 01:39 AM

Far too many people have tested it and showed results for anyone to doubt it. It works different car to car but it does work. I worked at a race school for a while and we ran water and WW, that's it. The cars had 13b rotaries in them which make lot's of heat. The water pumps almost NEVER died. They would outlast multiple motors.

I have been told that WW is nothing much more than soap but I'm not a chemist so whatever.

klasik-69 07-28-2009 07:08 AM

I've used a similar product in my 67 GTO and saw no difference in temperatures. I used strictly water to the WW product, in the ratios recommended. One thing I noticed after about 4 months was a lot of corrosion in the neck/cap area of my Be Cool radiator. I started to wonder what the inside of the radiator was doing as well. I drained the stuff out and went back to a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze. The car runs hot but doesn't overheat unless I really push it hard. The WW never brought the temps down, and the cool down took just as long. Sorry, not a believer of these products.

vettejockey 07-28-2009 08:24 AM

Thanks to everyone for the information.

Robert@SPEEDSOUTH 07-28-2009 11:28 AM

Water Wetter does lube the water pump as does standard antifreeze.

Antifreeze will not keep a car as cool as distilled water.

Tap water will leave residue in a cooling system.

If a car is never exposed to freezing conditions then a combination of some sort of water pump lube and distilled water is best to keep the car as cool as possible.

wtknght1 07-28-2009 01:05 PM


Originally Posted by CP Thunder (Post 1570938306)
Chris

What was your mix prior to the WW? I've always used two bottles of WW and distilled water........no problems except when the thing throws a belt!!!

I tried it at Savannah one year by just adding it to the mix (probably 30% antifreeze) and didn't see any temp differences at all.

The next year I dropped the mix level down to 10% antifreeze, used fresh distilled water and did a race. The very next day's race I added the water wetter and just as before, saw no difference in coolant temps.

Waste your money if you want.

ryan0 07-28-2009 01:21 PM


Originally Posted by wtknght1 (Post 1570943293)
I tried it at Savannah one year by just adding it to the mix (probably 30% antifreeze) and didn't see any temp differences at all.

The next year I dropped the mix level down to 10% antifreeze, used fresh distilled water and did a race. The very next day's race I added the water wetter and just as before, saw no difference in coolant temps.

Waste your money if you want.


you run anti-freeze at the track?

Robert@SPEEDSOUTH 07-28-2009 01:38 PM


Originally Posted by ryan0 (Post 1570943479)
you run anti-freeze at the track?

Thats how I was first introduced to the product. It was probably mid to late '90s or so, when I was still doing motorcycle track events and they called it by name in the supps, that either straight water, or water and Water Wetter could be used, but no antifreeze was allowed.

CP Thunder 07-28-2009 01:46 PM

some tracks are like that........I know we HATE antifreeze at MAM........WORSE than oil!!!

ryan0 07-28-2009 01:54 PM


Originally Posted by CP Thunder (Post 1570943774)
some tracks are like that........I know we HATE antifreeze at MAM........WORSE than oil!!!


no doubt.. i didn't think anyone who knew better still did this.

wtknght1 07-28-2009 07:02 PM


Originally Posted by ryan0 (Post 1570943479)
you run anti-freeze at the track?

There's nothing wrong with that. Since I race all year round, and the temp sometimes drops into the single digits at night (like December, January, Feb), I keep about 10-15% of antifreeze in there. It keeps everything lubed up in there and the block from cracking (or freeze plugs popping out). I also still drive the car on the street some, so I see nothing wrong with protecting the cooling system.


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