Summer is coming to Tucson and I could use some advice. BTW, I've searched and have some sense of the options. I'm most interested in the experiences of owners in hot climates and guys who track their DD's once in awhile.
My plan is to reverse flush and replace w/water wetter or royal purple ice. I also plan on replacing belts w/ gatorbacks, and replacing hoses w/ samco. I have a KJR pulley (not underdrive) and lots of N/A mods. Never had a problem w/ overheating, but some small cracks in the belts say it's time to replace. Hoses seem a natural to do @ the same time. My '04 ZR has 46k miles and gets tracked 3-4 times /yr. It's also my DD.
I'm seeking advice on water wetter vs RP Ice, including /excluding glycol, proportions of mix, gatorbacks vs OEM, or anything else that may help me.
It almost never gets below 32 here, but can easily get to 115 in summer. Too cold will never be a problem, but too hot can be.
Thanks in advance.

 

Where did my post get moved to? I thought I posted in the correct forum.

 

Turbo Magazine did a comparision of cooling additives in its March 2007 issue between DEI Radiator Relief, Redline Water Wetter, Hy-Per Lube super coolant and Justice brothers radiator cooler. (sorry Purple Ice was not tested)

They found that hyper lube and redline worked best in a coolant mixture or 30/70, while the DEI and Justice Brothers worked best in 100% water.

Here were their results.

Stock
Mixture = 50/50
Outside temp = 72F
Cruising Temp = 196F
4000rpm / 75mph = 198F
5000rpm / hill climb = 215F+
Extended idling = 215F+
Cylinder Head Temp = 208F
Rad Temp Drop = 5%

DEI Radiator Relief
Mixture = Water
Outside temp = 70F
Cruising Temp = 183F
4000rpm / 75mph = 190F
5000rpm / hill climb = 205F
Extended idling = 200F
Cylinder Head Temp = 191F
Rad Temp Drop = 7%

RedLine Watter Wetter
Mixture = 30/70
Outside temp = 62F
Cruising Temp = 187F
4000rpm / 75mph = 186F
5000rpm / hill climb = 208F
Extended idling = 205F
Cylinder Head Temp = 197F
Rad Temp Drop = 8%

Justice Brothers Radiator Coolant
Mixture = Water
Outside temp = 65F
Cruising Temp = 181F
4000rpm / 75mph = 183F
5000rpm / hill climb = 203F
Extended idling = 205F
Cylinder Head Temp = 193F
Rad Temp Drop = 8%

HY-PER LUBE Super Coolant
Mixture = 30/70
Outside temp = 65F
Cruising Temp = 188F
4000rpm / 75mph = 187F
5000rpm / hill climb = 207F
Extended idling = 204F
Cylinder Head Temp = 198F
Rad Temp Drop = 7%

 

Hey JC..

I am in Tucson too and am wondering what I am going to do now that I am TT, with the hot Summer temps approaching.. I have done lots of research and have come up with THIS.

I am pretty sure I will just stick with the Straight up Evans NPG+ and try that.. Its liked at the track and is supposed to be the $hit..

 

Very interesting comparison. Ive always run Redline Water Wetter with good results.

I run Willow Springs tracks in blazing desert heat and it helps keep temps down. Ive used the 100% water/waterwetter mix but I now run antifreeze/Waterwetter mix for winter protection and protecting the radiator and engine water passages. Plus we carry it here at the dealership

 

I'm not sure where, but I heard that by lowering the coolant temps, the additives are making the engine hotter. Thus the coolant temps are going down because the coolant is losing its thermal transfer properties from the additives, and not becoming more "efficient" with the additives. Anyone know anything about this?

 

Thanks for the replies--very helpful.

 

The ecu monitors coolant temperature to decide on ignition advance most ecu start at 195-200F to reduce timing in 1 degree per 5F increments as part of summer over heat protection.

Important to do what you can to keep coolant below 200F [what every point the protection begins].

Just 30/70 distilled/deionized in summer will go along way to improving the situation.
Strange they didn't show this in test because that's more than half the improvement!..........unfortunately there is a 10F ambient change across the various product tests...........missleading unless corrected for!

Everyone should have an ACCURATE cylinder head temp sensor because Knock sensor begin to crack at above 272F [150C]. Extreme hot shut down without opening hood or a cool down lap.

 

I researched this before and read some negative things about Water Wetter, so I went with Purple Ice. I run it with an 85/15 mix of distilled water/anti-freeze. Had it in about a year and no complaints here in Houston.

 

Even better, www.evanscooling.com, I've used it. It works.

 

from what I have read you are supposed to run evans cooling with no Tstat though. JapTrix I think was using it on one of their cars.

 

I just got the DEI mixture last week. Works great. At least to where I want the temp during city driving.

 

I ran a thermostat in my MR2 turbo, w/no probs. No matter how I ran it, no probs. I was impressed.

 

Maybe a dumb question-if so, sorry. If i make the swap (or even if I don't given the temps here in the AZ desert) why do I need a thermostat at all?

 

Taking out the thermostat is not going to kill your car. But it will take much longer to warm up to operating temps. When your coolant temperature is below operating temps, your car runs richer.

Remember, the car runs at about 200F. To the car, anywhere from 40F - 100F are all "cold temps" even though to YOU, 100F is scorching heat.

I recommend running with a thermostat.

 

If the coolant doesn't warm to 160F the ecu will do weird things as it expects an eventual 174-180F STABILIZED.

 

yeah that's basically what I was getting at... some of those weird things are "drive like ****" ... "run too rich" etc

 

Thanks for that information. I was thinking back to much older cars I've owned where removing the thermostat helped in certain situations. Given the possible negative effects on ECU reaction, I think I'll leave well enough alone in the thermostat department.

 

Aluminum is much more sensitive than cast iron, careful about using too little AF concentration and when you do use low 30% concentrations flush and replace every year because the additives will be depleted faster.

What I do is drain the rad [4 quarts] in April and refill with 100% distilled + WW water for Summer, then at Halloween drain the rad [4 quarts] and refill with 100% AF...............do the math it will surprise you.

On my old 1990 Q I had a Griffin ROBUST all aluminum rad built [in 1998] which holds another quart [larger end tanks and core]...........solved all my summer traffic problems.

 

there should be absolutely 0 need to run any sort of coolant additive

a distilled water antifreeze mix is all you could ever need...if that does not stand up to whatever it is your doing with your car, then you've got bigger problems that are not going to be solved by some "magic liquid potion"