Redline Water Wetter, good or bad idea?

[Getshocked.ca]

I had my coolant flushed and filled, and I saw this bottle of redline Water wetter which apparently increases the surface area of the water by minimizing bubles or something

For 9 bucks is it worth sticking a bottle of that stuff in? I see alot of discussion on the accuracy of the rad temp (Mine warms up to 6 bars)

[james]

Don't know the product, but it seems the general idea is that increases the efficiency of the cooling system, no? But with the Insight, we want to keep the engine warmer for better mpg, thus radiator blocks in winter and such. So it would be counter-productive - especially in a Canadian winter!

[Insightful Trekker]

I think your referring to a cooling system additive that reduced the waters surface tension and probably adds a lubricant primarily for the water pump's bushing and seal. IMO little or no benefit. And you really _don't_ want to "improve" the heat transfer efficiency across the radiator anyways.

Earlier this week I just did the cooling system "change" @60K miles (the "severe" schedule). Maybe a waste but I do recycle so its not dumped into a river somewhere. Like many Honda models there is an air "bleed" screw on top of the thermostat housing. Being in somewhat of a hurry I failed to:
1) Bleed the air.
2) Cycle the engine to "hot" to verify thermostat and fan operation (didn't want to waste the gas ).
3) Closely monitor my gauge for any warnings of the above.

My commute home is almost 25 miles and I did not check the gauge until 1/2 way home I was reading 8 bars Nor could I get any heat from the heater. Almost certainly the dreaded thermostat "air" lock And I have my 6x17 radiator block installed too Thankfully it was a cool day, upper 50F. Being overconfident I immediately changed driving patterns to P&G (Pulse & Glide) as a heat limiting style only :P (overall MPG with P&G was an atrocious 72 ish since I depleted the IMA SoC and was in forced charge much of the way home).

Apparently this was sufficient in that during the glide periods the gauge would usually drop back to the normal 6 bars. Upon arriving at the house I immediately opened the hood and felt the engine and sniffed the oil for any indications of an overheat. NONE <whew> In fact the engine was its normal 200F ish. A reflection of the high thermal efficiency of the engine (fuel to mechanical force with less loss to wast heat in the cooling system. Read: high MPG). Topping of the cooling system only required 1-2 cups of additional coolant further confirming an "air" lock situation.

On my commute the following day MPG's were nominal (after replenishing IMA SoC due to the !@#^* P&G driving). But apparently no damage has been done.

So the moral of the story is:
1) The Insight needs _NO_ help to run cooler. In fact its been shown by the radiator blocking technique that it needs lower cooling "efficiency".
2) _Always_ air bleed the cooling system after changing the coolant.
3) A bit of wasted gas may save an engine
4) Thank goodness for P&G and cool temps

HTH!

[Getshocked.ca]

I dont do that stuff myself, I had a mechanic do it and he mentioned something about he had an airlock?

This is now the second coolant flush i have had performed on my insight

First time, Honda did it and I had to refill the entire coolant jar behind the headlights like 4 times in the week that followed. The place where i took it this time I only had to top it up from a tad below the min line to the full line

He said that the coolant wasnt even that dirty or anything and i could have got away with it longer, but i dont mind doing that sorta thing often


Aside from Millage (not like mine can get any worse lol...), do those additives like the watter wetter damage anything?

here is a link

http://www.redlineoil.com/products_cool ... oductID=53

[Insightful Trekker]

AFAIK no harm or damage will be done. But as I stated eariler cooling system effiiency improvements are _not_ desirable in an Insight

And from your experience at your new ( ) repair shop it sounds like they know what their doing

HTH!

[kapps]

I use WatterWetter in my MINI but keep it out of the Insight knowing that the Insight's cooling system is more than enough to keep it cool. On hot running motors, it really works. Go to almost any car race and you'll see some Watter Wetter laying around the pits.

[Aaron Cake]

WaterWetter is the one additive that actually seems to work. Plenty of RX-7 owners run WaterWetter instead of regular coolant mixed with their water, and get good results. It can give the extra edge on a track day to keep the engine cool.

For the Insight, it's completely unnecessary. The stock cooling system is already overkill. Temperature is also controlled by the thermostat, not the coolant. So the ONLY time WaterWetter would be a benefit is in the case of overextending the cooling system (probably damn near impossible to do) or if it is not functioning properly. If the cooling system isn't working, then it needs to be fixed and not bandaided with aftermarket products.

On that note, there is a very specific proceedure for bleeding the system after a change. It needs to be followed, or there will be airlocks and bubbles present.