Water-wetter

a few years back i bought a 40 mercury coupe in manitoba and flew in to drive it back to nova scotia.we went down thur north dok:)ota and across.1st of august very hot weather.added 2 bottles of water weter and temp guage dropped from just over 3/4 to just over 1/2.i was sold on it ever since.
 
Something else to consider.

When the engine was apart did you work the water jacket with wires and rods to break up and remove all the rust?

The layers of flaky rust are a huge insulating barrier preventing the water from removing the heat. I have found that you need to work the block with what ever tool that allows you to break all the flaky rust free. Various screwdrivers and stiff wires. The tough part is clearing the blind passages around the corners.
You have to clean some then clear the rust out and repeat. I used air and moving the block in different positions.
Eventually you get to good cast iron all around.

It is a lot of work with a big pay off. It only costs you some time.

It is only one step in making solid cool running engine.
 
I've used it in Jag. 140's and E-types, Racecars, and it drops the temp by about 20 Deg. Maybe because of the aluminum heads. But it seems to work.

The Old Tinbasher
 
I used it in a combine cutting beans in hot weather. I used 30% antifreeze and water wetter. Dropped the temp about 15 degrees.I use it in my A.
 
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"I'm not convinced a Model A could generate enough power to make enough heat to boil the coolant on the jacket side of the cylinder, at least not to the point of damage."

I think that's correct. Power equals heat.

Boiling water. Jaguar says in it's owner manuals..."that ANY coolant temperature is of no concern as long as NO coolant is lost."

My 1976 double six XJ-12 C ran very hot. So hot that the the following components had individual cooling items. The engine oil. The transmission oil. The power steering oil. Heat sinks on ignition electronics. And a cold air duct that is thermally controlled and fitted with a double inlet, single outlet, forwardly inclined, non-overloading wheel fan to cool the battery and keep that electrolyte from boiling.

Speaking of boiling, sea water at great pressures, near the still classified crush depths of the Cavalla, SSN-684, NUC, has the frequency and the electrical power enough to boil with a single sonar ping the sea water off the face of it's antenna.

Opps, sorry. skippy went off the reservation.
 
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I run WW in my race bike and when riding it will do the job. But when I am just setting there with the engine running it will heat up more than antifreeze.
So I would run both in can't hurt.
 
80% distilled water- 20% 50/50- 1 oz of Royal Ice per qt of total coolant. Could go to 1.5oz
The 50/50 mix is a must, prevents galvanic action (2 different metals reacting to each other)
 
I run Water Wetter. I doubt it does a darn thing for cooling but the cars cool just fine with water alone. Also I don't need to worry about freezing in the winter where I am. I only need something to run as a rust inhibitor. Most rust inhibitors are milky white and messy. I can't find Zerex here anymore. Zerex is/was a transparent blue and worked very well. Water wetter works ok and is transparent red. Neither makes a mess and I'm not aware of any other similar options. Coolant seems to find places to seep that weren't there so I don't even try it!
 
In response to a couple of questions pertaining to my radiator, it is brand new, and since I have had it out on a couple of days that were well below freezing, I use 50/50 and from what I have read in these responses, I will now add some water lube. Sounds Good to me......

Thanks again to all in the COLLEGE OF MODEL A'ism 101.
 
Old182 said:
Good discussion. From a technical paper: "The heat exchange capacity of the EG (ethylene glycol)/water solutions is reduced with increasing EG content. Water remains the better heat exchange fluid compared to any mixture of EG and water. A compromise between the required freezing protection and heat exchange efficiency has to be made. The viscosity of the cooling fluid is also a factor in evaluating the overall heat exchange efficiency. Lower viscosity (better fluidity) will aid heat transport". From this, sounds like distilled water is best (with added rust and foam inhibitors, of course), anything else is either worse or magic. There's lots more, but I can hear the zzzzzzz's already.
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IMHO best way to reduce coolant temperature is to install a high compression head(more efficient combustion means more HP and less heat)

I don't find viscosity in the equation(although viscosity may affect Cp)

Q = m* Cp* Delta Temperature

Q=heat transfer rate
m=flow rate
Cp=heat capacity
Delta temperature= hot - cold
 
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bobpo said:
I've only read about this product. Does it work as indicated or is it a waste of money or does a standard 50/50 water/anti-freeze work in a new restoration?
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Good discussions. We cannot learn much by comparing one car with 50/50 to another car with distilled water and WW. One car may have a cleaner efficient radiator and pump while the other may have a radiator with clogged tubes inside and heavy paint outside. Not apples to apples to consider conditions of one model A to another in timing, radiator, years of use and so many other items.

Also the results this time of year bare little on hot conditions in July. Antifreeze is required to protect your engine in cold climates and cold garages but has little to offer in the summer on non pressurized Model A’s.

Yes antifreeze is great for pressurized modern cars year round but is not so good for the Model A system. Fact: Antifreeze is a heaver fluid and will not pickup heat or give up heat as efficiently as water. Antifreeze does present some significant risks as opposed to distilled water, WW, pump lubricants and/or corrosion resistant additives combinations dependent on your personal preferences.

WW does work and if you test the produce fairly with water and an accurate heat gun you will see the difference with aluminum or brass. I have not tested other products competing with WW but I am sure there are other good products on the market.

With 80 year old cars and cooling systems each car has a different set of cooling “opportunities/problems” to deal with and candidly to identify.

During hot weather if you find you are marginally running too hot don’t run antifreeze and do use distilled water and a WW type product. This may give you a 20 degree margin or more. Do accurately measure the before and after temperatures so you have a baseline to determine what works and what does not.

If you still have an overheating problem start with the radiator and eliminate each problem one by one and measure as you go.

If you search the archives on the FordBarn there are several recommended methods to clean the radiator yourself. If you can’t find it please let me know and I will dig it out.

But the bottom line is WW type products do work as indicated on the bottle but are not cure-alls for a weak radiator, corroded system, or eroded water pump.
 
WaterWetter helps reduce coolant temperatures when they try to rise above the ideal as well as providing rust and corrosion protection. Antifreeze doesn’t transfer heat near as well as water, soluble oils tend to coat the cooling system further impeding heat transfer. In a Model A cooling system if freeze protection isn’t necessary, the ideal mixture is to use it with just water, without antifreeze or water soluble oil, to provide the best heat transfer.

Internal cylinder head temperatures, even in a Model A can and will exceed the boiling point of the coolant creating localized boiling, causing elevated cylinder head and coolant temperatures, by reducing the surface tension, promoting more efficient heat transfer, cylinder head and coolant temperatures are reduced.

I wouldn’t be without WaterWetter in our Victoria…Heading up Hells Canyon in the summer!

A’s Always
Dave
Red Line Oil
 
I once had a hopped up V8-60 (known for running on the warm side) in a Crosley wagon. Sooooo, I tried water wettter with absolutely no improvement. It still, and always did run 180-190 on a hot day...... that's my two lincolns worth. Luckily I have no problems the my "enhanced" banger in my "A".
 
To Tom IV,

No 190* is not too hot but that is time to start checking the gage more often. I will run to 200* before I start to sweat but that is not too hot either. By now you are probably watching the gage more than the road so stop and take a breather with the car running at a fast idle.

Richard
Anaheim CA
 
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