Its been real hot lately so I put in some water wetter to keep the temp down in traffic. I use to run about 200 cruisin in the heat now with the water wetter it dropped to less than 195 and takes much longer to rise in traffic. Have any of you had good results with this stuff? is there anything better in the same price range? Im happy with the results for $8.

It got up to 210 today so I sprayed the radiator down while idling and it dropped the temp down to about 185. I have a 180 thermostat so does this mean my fan isnt doing its job? I have a 13" electric on a 3 row stock radiator.

nitrous383,

Im by no way a Heating and cooling Guru, but I dont think the temps are all that bad. the amount of cooling changes of course with different ratios of weather contions. What I mean is, 10 days of 100 degree weather doesnt mean that each day the car will run the same temp. But thats another topic.

The 185 thermostat wont open fully until 15-20 degrees above its rated level, so in reality, that valve is fully opened at 200 degrees. (give or take a few) If you put a cooler thermostat in, the opening temps will only kick in sooner, but not allow the block to cool itself off in a time effective manner. So stay away from thermostats below that 185. Some people even say dont run a thermostat, but that varies with engine/performance variables.

If I were you, Id stick to the water wetter in the summer, but maybe step up to a better cooling system component... cap, pump, radiator, fan, even the venting system. try running very little coolant, lets say about 90/10. and see if a better fan system can fit on your front end.

It gets AFRICA HOT here in Alabama, but even with a steward water pump, Aluminum Radiator, electric fan, my mill still sees 195-205 degree temps on 100+ days.

BLAME IT ON THE SUMMER CONDITIONS DUDE!!!

Good luck..

Jerry!

N20383- What do you have for a fan shroud? I assume that the fan is attached to the radiator with no shroud and I believe that this would lead to most of your problem.

Simple things to help would be to seal the radiator to the core support with high temp cellular foam and to add and addition to the lower part of your core support to create negative pressure behind the radiator. What I mean by that is to create an air dam like the one used on the 86 to current model F-Bodies. The dam directs the air around the front of the car and tires which creates high pressure in front of the dam which helps direct air into the radiator itself. On the other side of the dam, it will create a negative pressure that helps draw air through the radiator and low and high speeds. This works very well and is evident by looking at the front of late models currently in production...... you dont see big openings in the front of the body work anymore. It is simply managing available air. The best part of this is that it can be accomplised very cheaply by purchasing some non overly ridgid plastic or by hitting the junk yard and getting one off a late model.

Second would be a different fan. I would run the Lincon Mark VII myself. It would sure help in the stop and go.

As for the Water Wetter, I have been using it for roughly 15 years and have had great luck with using it. I have seen temperature reductions of up to 20*F by running straight water and at least one whole bottle of the product. I never go anywhere where it freezes in the hotod so straight water is just fine. That and it has been proven that straight water cools the best (next to the new water/pressureless coolents available)......you just gotta remember that you would need to add a lubericant and an anti corrosive to the mixture......which is part of the water wetter!

Just some ideas.......

One 13" fan is not all that much. My car typically runs 100* hotter than the outside temp. (of course that is assuming anything over 60* outside).

As for the water wetter I wasn't all that thrilled with it. Stay away from "30 Below" if it leaks on anything it will ruin it (paint, aluminum etc...) I much prefer Hyper Lube, it is in a similar bottle (to water wetter) and can be bought at Kragen, Checker, Shucks. The liquid is green and it's in a clear bottle. I run distilled water and one bottle of Hyper Lube (it typically doesn't freeze where I live).Hyper Lube keeps the pump seal lubed and protects aluminum, no corrsion at all (not even rust). Summer days over 100* (supposed to reach the mid to upper teens next week) is normal here (last week or so has been there). On a 100* day I will run 195-200 sitting in traffic and about 185-190 at speed.

As Chicane mentioned air flow through the radiator is a BIG deal as well. Is your fan in front or behind the radiator? Do you hve anything else in front ot the radiator? (oil cooler, trans cooler, license plate). You don't want too much in front of it if you can help it.

Your temps really aren't that bad and I don't think you need to do anything drastic. I hope you have your electric fan wired through a relay? If not you might want to do that (fire hazzard) I can send you a wiring diagram if you need it.

Im planning on putting in some sheet metal or something to direct more air into the radiator. The fan I have now is on the back side or the radiator which would make it a puller? No relay, just a toggle switch by my gauges. I dont trust relays anymore I burned up a 350 because it kept overheating from a faulty relay, I just turn the fan on myself now. I think the water wetter would cool better if I had less anti-freeze, I have about 20-30% now. The WW seems to be working better now after running it for a few days, I may add another bottle.

nitrous383 , as Royce mentioned, the relay accompanied with the correct fuse is your best bet to protect your investment. To monitor if your fan is working, you can have a 12volt pilot light in a visible spot inside your car, connected to the same terminal as your fan + wire. That way you can always see if your fan is working. Also remember, no on/off switch can assure you that your fan won't fail cause of, wasted brushes for example.JMO ;)
BTW I use water wetter in all my cars with good results in this Caribean weather. :eek:

Originally posted by chicane67:
Simple things to help would be to seal the radiator to the core support with high temp cellular foam Agreed. In the engine picture on my website there is a good shot of the core support to radiator seal. It's 1" thick black closed cell foam cut with a kitchen electic knife.

You may want to re-think the relay thing. When (not if) your switch burns up you will still lose your fan. Hopefully it will only be the switch that burns up. You can to do what I did, which is to use more than one relay (I actually have three going to two fans) That way all would have to fail in order for me to lose my fans. I know it is a little anal but, I work on fault tolerant computer systems and I can't help it. As mentioned above a light would help but, you need to keep an eye on your gauges (if not you might as well not have them). Seriously if you are running anything that draws a lot of current (ie... electric fuel pump, fans or anything else including aux. lights) you really need to run a relay and fuse. Your fan probably pulls well over 20 amps (with spikes over 30 amps). I am willing to bet the switch you have is not rated for that. You have to look very hard to find an automotive switch rated for 30+ amps (continuous). Even if your switch is rated at 30 amps, you don't want to run that kind of amperage into and out of the cockpit (un fused). If for some reason you get a short in the wiring the vinyl/plastic coating is going to melt right off and your car will soon be on fire. Just think if you have an accident (even a minor one) and your fan wire gets shorted (hopefully that will never happen). If you can remember to turn your fan on everytime you drive the car you can remember to keep an eye on the gauges (honestly how many time have you forgotten to turn on your fan?) been there done that. If you use a relay your can wire it so your fan comes on when you turn on the key or you can have it triggered by so sort of thermistor or thermostat. I have worked with electricity for quite a while and I can tell you it will bite you when you don't play by the rules. Don't take this the wrong way please, I am only trying to help. If you think I am blowing smoke that's fine I won't say another word about it. If you want directions on how to hook up a relay properly (including a fuse) I can help.

At cruise you should not need the fan at all!
a single 13" fan won't cut it in city traffic and high ambient temperature, IMO.
Thermo activate a 16", or better yet 11" x2 fans at 200degrees on and 185 off. Parallel two fan control relays to protect against a single failure.

I can tell when my fan is on by the noise (it only comes on in traffic, never highway) and by the volt guage drop from 14 to 12.5 volts!

good luck
joe c