m610

Recently I've run into two people recently who are running, or considering running, straight water as a coolant. One also uses Redline water wetter, and the other was considering switching to distilled watter.

Doesn't this set you up for all sorts of corrosion problems? One of the main reasons for using anti-freeze is for the corrosion inhibitors. I know that industrial cooling systems undergo a passization process using specific chemicals that builds up a thin layer of corrosion resistant material, and then they monitor the pH of the water. If they just put it into service without taking these steps, teh whole thing would rot away. Even in small-scale chillers, the kind you might have in teh room next to a piece of equipment, running DI water will lead to a lot of corrosion problems. Tap water, even the hard water in the Sacramento valley, is better than DI water.

Using straight water in an aluminum-block engine sounds like a bad idea to me. Am I wrong? Does straight water really do a better job cooling the engine?

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71dsp

David and I run straight distilled water with one container of Red Line WW. I've done it for a little over a year, and David has done it for many years without any problems. I need to check, but I thought that WW had some inhibitors in it.

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petern101

i remember the water wetter bottle.

you can run straight distilled water + water wetter "in race applications"

i think they say its not recommending for street use, and in street use, you don't need that much cooling do you?

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TruNinja619

well... water itself does have a significant lower boiling point than coolant... but I don't know what Redline WW does to the water.. so I cant say anything about that...

I'm just curious... why would people use straight water+redline WW instead of coolant?

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71dsp

For me, coolant is not allowed at the track.

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TruNinja619

why is that a rule??

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71dsp

Coolant is VERY slick.

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petern101

well actually, doesn't straight distilled water cool better than a mix of coolant/water.

in the winter i run 50/50 but in the summer (esp. in texas) i run 20/80.

water wetter cools the car about ~ 5-10 degrees (and thats on optimal conditions)

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Mkazm83

Straight water does do a better job cooling. I use the RP equivalant of WW, the car dosent run cooler (I was not expecting it to). The car does cool down quickly especially with the hood poped. The main reason to run WW, or PI, is to more evenly distribute the heat over the block and to help prevent hot spots.

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71dsp

It probably doesn't run any cooler since the t-stat regulates the temp anyway. I run 100% distilled water with 1 bottle of WW at the track with a Fluidyne rad and no fans. My water temp stays right at 180-ish, it's fairly rock solid. Oil temp is another matter all together.

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Billy - 98 Prelude
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Solid

I think you said the main reason "anti-freeze". Water is fine unless the temperature drops below freezing, then you have problems. I'm not sure exactly what would happen if your coolant were to turn to ice inside your radiator and engine while it was parked.

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silver1998lude

it would prob break something cause when water freezes it expands so im sure if it ran out of space it would just make something split or break

DR

If you have no cooling issues with a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze then stay with it. In hotter places like here in Texas it is customary to go with more water than anti-freeze to help cool better.
Water transfers heat better than anti-freeze so even though water has a lower boiling point it does a better job as a coolant. Water Wetter helps water transfer heat better as it reduces the amount of surface tension water has which gives water more surface area to contact the radiator. Soap does the same thing but you wouldn't want to add that to your cooling system. Water Wetter also provides some rust and corrosion protection which is why you can run it with no anti-freeze.
Right now I have no anti-freeze, just water + water wetter. In the winter I add in a little anti-freeze if I think there is a chance the water will freeze.

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m610

Thanks.

I didn't realize there what much difference between the cooling capacity of water and a water-anti-freeze mix.

I found this data on the subject: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/et...col-d_146.html

Quick comparison of a 50/50 anti-freeze solution versus water - the anti-freeze is/has:

1. Freezing point drops to -36F (-37C)
2. Dynamic viscosity is roughly twice as high as water, results in higher head pressures
3. Density is nearly the same. The total weight of the coolant will barely change.
4. Heat capacity is about 10-12% lower. You'd need a 10-12% larger cooling system to compensate.
5. Don't use chlorinated city water in your coolant. The chlorine is corrosive.

Anti-freeze being slick would be definitely be an issue at the track.

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