Will this additive help?

kschachn · Jul 25, 2024

Davejam · Jul 25, 2024

Knowing where you live is important and what the minimum temperatures it will see.
Bottom line is that straight water is a better heat transfer medium than an antifreeze mix.
For example in FL I can use 30/70 all year long and not bat an eye. And that's probably the lowest you would want to go to still get the corrosion protection.
If you were committed to changing more frequently or between seasons, etc you could push that lower. But this is more effective than an additive.

JohnnyG · Jul 25, 2024

I'm sure it's been mentioned, but if you run straight water at 240 degrees, something is going to blow from the pressure!

Wingo · Jul 25, 2024

In the end, it doesn't cost much and won't hurt anything to try. Give it a shot, and see what happens.

Davejam · Jul 25, 2024

JohnnyG said:
I'm sure it's been mentioned, but if you run straight water at 240 degrees, something is going to blow from the pressure!

At 15PSIG the boiling point of water is 257F.

CarlB · Jul 25, 2024

Davejam said:
At 15PSIG the boiling point of water is 257F.

To your point the lowest Subaru cap is usually 108kpa, so 15.66psi. It should vent at 271.4F.

papang · Jul 25, 2024

4WD said:
What kind of oil temps do you see with that coolant temp?

around 225

64bawagon · Jul 25, 2024

kschachn said:
Yes it is primarily a surfactant which is also in a formulated coolant. These products do next to nothing except wiith water

I hear what youre saying but my experience was positive.

kschachn · Jul 25, 2024

64bawagon said:
I hear what youre saying but my experience was positive.

Well, either your thermostat was running wide-open all of the time or the additive somehow changed its setpoint. Or there was something seriously wrong with the coolant formulation. There really aren’t a lot of choices if the thermostat is within bounds and operating properly.

JHZR2 · Jul 26, 2024

If you need more heat capacity/better heat transfer, go to 40%, or even 30% coolant son the water fraction is higher. But make sure it’s appropriate for your climate!! And change more often since there is less inhibitor.

TiGeo · Jul 29, 2024

I have run the VP Cooldown and Redline Water Wetter with a leaner coolant mix for track. There would be no other reason to run these products vs. normal coolant per the OEM recommendation IMHO. Careful with leaner or water-only mixes...one cold night is all it takes!

Number_35 · Jul 29, 2024

Three scarcely related stories:

1. Around 2002, a coworker's Jeep Cherokee was overheating. He went so far as to install an oversized rad, which didn't solve the problem. It turned out he was running too high a concentration of antifreeze.

2. Some of you will recall the fun I've had with the cooling system on my friend's Sonic. After several flushes with dishwasher powder and tap water, followed by several flushes with deionized water, he added concentrate. He brought the car over for me to test the strength. My refractometer would not give a reading.

A couple of days ago, I tested some concentrate - it looked exactly like how the coolant in the Sonic did. I figure he put way too much concentrate in - it's a small-capacity system (6 l?), so he's going to drain some and add distilled or deionized water.

He thought it was doing no harm, but I told him the engine is likely running hot (and unfortunately the Sonic has no temperature gauge).

3. I recently replaced the IM gaskets on our '07 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.3. I ran only deionized water for a few days before adding any coolant, as I wanted to confirm I'd fixed the leak.

The first addition of premix took the freeze point down to -8.5°C. This would likely be good through October, but no farther.

I pumped out as much as I could, and added concentrate - it's now good to -21°C. I'll leave it for now, but need to achieve -40°C before winter.

TiGeo · Aug 5, 2024

Unless you can move your coolant out of the normal range (towing, track, etc.) where you thermostat is basically open and you are still getting an increase in coolant temps these water wetter coolant products will do zero.

AdmiralYoda · Aug 9, 2024

1st...where are you located? Anti-freeze is important not only because it prevents the coolant from freezing and increases the boiling point, but it also prevents corrosion. Straight water would cool the best but you'd end up with muck pretty soon.

Use an anti-freeze blend, but only the minimum ratio your climate demands. These additives help, but they don't perform miracles. Put some in, it won't hurt but it might not help as much as you hope (or at all).

And make sure your coolant system is up to the task. Flush it out and make sure your AC condenser and radiator aren't plugged up with junk. Make sure your fan's work adequately and consider an upgrade.

You may need to improve your car's ability to get heat out of the engine. There should be plenty of aftermarket support for these cars and people increase the power significantly and race them regularly. I'm certain there are upgraded radiators, intercoolers, etc. An upgraded oil cooler, power steering cooler, transmission cooler, etc will only help get heat out of your engine.

If you're exceeding the "one size fits most" cooling ability from the factory...time to upgrade it.

Will this additive help?

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