Anybody have experience with them? The track I race at and probably all NHRA tracks have an antifreeze ban. So I'm looking for an alternative to keep the waterpump lubricated and so on. I don't have a cooling issue at all, just something I can add in and leave it all year around. Looking for opinions both good and bad.
A bottle of red Water Wetter is all we ever used in our dirt late models and modifieds. No water pump issues ever (over 30 years). SPark
Most addittives are snake oil in my estimation. A properly designed cooling system doesn't require additives. Gary
Water wetter is a good product , if the vehicle is driven daily. Left in a non circulating system it can settle out and corrode aluminum. The barsleaks brown pellet style stop leak uses water soluable oil ( WSO ) as its liquid component. WSO is a surfactant. It bonds the water to the surface of the entire cooling system.. this allows heat to better transfer from the surface to the water , then out to the radiator. Added benefit is the lubrication of water pump seals..and anti-cavitation in high flow areas. Cat, deer, Detroit, Cummins all use a small amount ofWSO in stationary engines.. Any application where you cannot use antifreeze WSO is the answer.. I use 4 oz in the 4 cyl race cars and 8 oz in the 8 cyl ... Makes the water a bit cloudy / milky looking... Worth it to me for the corrosion protection , plus it always seems to drop the temp at least 15 to 20 degrees.. Your results may vary , I've had great results . Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Water wetter can make sludge if not continually run. We also used on our dirt racing engines and usually ran 2 times a month. We went with distilled water only lately with Excellant results. The block, heads and intakes do not show any corrosion.
The cooling system is fine, it never overheats. I'm just done with changing and flushing 3 gallons of antifreeze every time I race the car. It's a BBF and has some aluminum components, heads, radiator, intake, etc..so I need something with anti corrosion protection along with a lubricant for the water pump. Anyone tried royal purple ice? water wetter I'm not sold on, heard mixed reviews on it. My car is not driven daily, maybe once a week.
Tried Water Wetter once...Will not make that mistake again. It left a surface coating on both my motorcycle, aluminum engines and my cars, cast iron surfaces. Funny thing about all those same type of materials... A LONG time ago, a friend with a water cooled airplane showed me a letter he received from the FAA. People with water cooled aircraft were (are?) expressly forbidden the use of any of those coolant aids. Too many years have past and I don't recall the exact reason why, but the edict was pretty clear. About 25% antifreeze to water is all I use. And that's for it's anti-corrosion and lubricating properties only. Mike
RmK57, would you mind telling us how any additve can lubericate a water pump. Aren't their bearings in a thightly sealed compartment? Gary
1/2 cup of Tide detergent works great, to test for your self wet some in your hand feel the lubricant properties Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I'm long in the tooth but aren't all water pump seals a face type seal of a plastic of some sort with a coiled spring exerting pressure? Certainly not a lip seal of any kind could hold water at radiator pressure.
Cant you run a zinc anode to prevent corrosion. Good grounds radiator to frame, to bridge the rubber bushings also helps. Id still run an additive, no scientific reason, just me.
Old forklift trick...…...pour some water soluble cutting oil that machine shops use in it, keeps everything lubricated.
Lucas super coolant many farm equiptment shops use it. I like it for systems that have high aluminum content saves on those car for sale needs head gasket adds.
I used to use soluble oil from the machine shop I worked at, at the concentration recommended for the cooling system of the machines. It worked keeping them from rusting, after all, but of course they aren't running at 200 degrees. You just have to remember not to let it freeze in your radiator come fall. I would be wary of using detergent in a cooling system. Try mixing a bit up and putting some steel in it for a week to see if it is safe, first. The reason it is slippery is because it is alkaline, and it "defats" skin. Gman makes a good point about the "water pump lubricant" ad hype. It can only lubricate the bearings if the seal has failed. Seals are ceramic on one face, hard carbon on the other. Probably the "water pump lubricant" line came from way back when water pumps had rope type packing in them. And why change a good bit of ad hype? Ultimately, however, I imagine the track would forbid any additive that is oily or slippery.
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