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Cooling agents ? Do they work ?

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454 blazer

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Can anyone reccomend the above ? And does this stuff really work? My big block always runs hot as its 50 odd degress here in the summer.Im just thinking this may help.
Any thoughts appreciated.:bow:
Cheers Simon.
 
I did a fair bit of research into experiences/testing with stuff like water wetter, etc., and while it never seemed to make things worse, the results varied from no difference, to a slight difference. I suppose a slight difference is good, but if you are looking for huge temp drop, not very likely.

IMO if you have a very good radiator and a high flow water pump, coolant type isn't going to matter that much. I'm editing this to add that coolant capacity is going to be important as well, the largest radiator you can run is going to work better than a smaller radiator, bar none.

Water is a better coolant than antifreeze (contrary to the misleading hype from the manufacturers who want to sell you 50/50 antifreeze at a premium) and I'm guessing you don't need antifreeze anyway. What I'd suggest is either use something like water wetter, http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...oling-System-Treatment/_/R-FIL4056_0476027577, or similar in the proper ratio, and monitor additive performance using test strips sold for this purpose, to ensure you don't have cooling system corrosion issues.

Understand that your radiator cap is where the majority of the pressure to prevent boiling in the system comes from, so it needs to work properly.
 
I agree with not buying the pre-diluted bottles of 50/50 coolant, for a buck or two more it seems, you can get the full strength stuff and mix it yourself and get more out of it.

He's still going to need "anti-freeze" / COOLANT, as it is not just for anti-freezing purposes, as I'm sure you are aware, it also raises the boiling point of the water in the system.

not enough coolant mixed in, you'll get boil overs, too much may not cool well enough, although I have never seen it happen as of yet.

Back when I had cooling issues in the hot summers in Phoenix, Arizona, I finally got fed up with the problems with overheating and just opted for the larger radiators, usually a row or two more cooling passes and referred to either "heavy duty cooling" or "max-cool" of some sort.

That one thing only usually cured all overheating problems and was usually running a mix of about 50/50 coolant to water ratio, I'd just buy two full strength bottles and mix it myself.

As far as your running hot problems, get the radiator serviced or better yet, replaced with a larger one, I have also had better luck with heavy duty fan clutches as well, although they tend to make a bit more noise during start up for a bit until they relax. I just recently removed mine for a standard one here in Washington, it doesn't get that hot here as it did in Phoenix. :D

As far as additives, I had a friend that loved using Water Wetter, I never saw any difference, and supposedly, if I remember right, you're not supposed to use ANYTHING BUT Water Wetter mixed in with straight water in the system. Just weird to me, I'll stick with something I already know works.
 
I can only tell you what it did for our KTMs. We used Water Wetter brand. Did a test in a canyon at Ocotillo Wells. Ran 50/50 anti freeze. Ran the canyon. Slow and tight at 100 degrees ambient temp. Radiators were at 210-215. Drained and used water wetter and water. Did the same run. 195-200. All 3 bikes showed lower temps.

What sucks was, my friend forgot to change it before he did a dual sport ride in the Sierras. Froze over night and cracked the outside of the cylinder.
 
I've always wondered, never have run it.

I thought one could mix water wetter in with antifreeze though :dunno:
 
4xcrazy said:
so Water Wetter doesn't have the temperature range regular coolant/anti-freeze has then :doah:
Click to expand...

correct.

I ran it in my drag car in case it blew at the track, much easier for the track staff to cleanup.
 
And I think that's where it was primarily designed to be used at, places like race tracks, to help keep engines cooler without the nasty mess of anti-freeze/coolant all over if anything broke.
 
4xcrazy said:
He's still going to need "anti-freeze" / COOLANT, as it is not just for anti-freezing purposes, as I'm sure you are aware, it also raises the boiling point of the water in the system.

not enough coolant mixed in, you'll get boil overs, too much may not cool well enough, although I have never seen it happen as of yet.
Click to expand...

Just so you know, the math does not bear out what the manufacturers of antifreeze have been advertising the last few years.

15PSI cap increases the boiling point of water to about ~240*. 50/50 antifreeze adds another ~15*. IMO that is a worthless amount of boilover protection, 240* is already way too hot. Note that the fine print for the antifreeze makers states "at 15PSI" for their boilover protection figures. Pretty shady IMO.

Yes, antifreeze adds SOME protection. However the penalty is that antifreeze is not as effective at absorbing heat as water. It's a necessary evil for freeze prevention, it is not a necessary evil for overheating problems.

I run as little as necessary, but I also make sure I monitor the level of freeze protection and corrosion inhibitors.
 
Water wetter is designed to be used with water only because water transfers heat better than antifreeze, but using just water in a race car for example causes rust and deposit build up due to aluminum heads, cast iron blocks and copper radiators for example. So it also helps with corrosion of the various metals, and antfireeze is a PITA to clean up from a strip.

With water it will boil over easier, but the system dissipates heat faster without antifreeze, antifreezes main goal is simply to deep the mix from freezing.
 
Thanks for the replies :waytogo: .While we are on the subject of heat...On a hot summers day were does your temp gauge sit ?...Mine sits mostly in the centre and then gets a little higher at the traffic lights.By the way im running electric fans.Also there is no numbers on the gauge for reference.
Cheers Si
 
I have a 454 tbi in my '87 and live in phoenix, motor and cooling system are all stock. During the summer when it's 118 whether crawling in low gear or driving in the city mine rarely goes above the 1/4 mark on the dash. That's with the AC blowing. If I'm driving freeway speeds for more than 20 minutes it gets up towards 1/2. When I'm towing a trailer loaded with camp gear and a quad uphill (from phoenix to payson) it gets over the halfway mark, but never 3/4. Sometimes I have to pull over and let it cool. Have never used additives and probably run a 30/70 mix coolant to water.
 
What kind of electric fans? Often they are undersized. You have to get GOOD electric fans to cool one of these trucks in heat.

Does your guage have a red mark towards the hot side? My guage reads up to 260*, but the red zone starts at what I suspect is 240*.
 
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