What about the Redline Water Wetter- does that have the same or similar label?

Odd they would mention that, although I do know the Al-13 rads tend to suffer from galvanic corrosion, not diluting your antifreeze or coolant with the stuff seems weird...

from doing a little research and remembering some forgotten chemistry, i believe distilled water INCREASES the rate at which corrosion will occur.

I thought distilled water was just straight H2O... If you can't use distilled water what are you supposed to use? 50/50 premix? I imagine 50/50 premix that has "Safe on Aluminum Radiators" on its label would be fine. But what if you want to mix your own stuff? maybe go 80/20 or 70/30 or any other which you want?

i think the impurities in hose water might actually prevent it. Distilled water usually is the preferred base for solutions in chemical reactions and the water wetter stuff might chemically react. who knows.

could call their tech support.

Distilled water has a low pH. Water by nature tries to seek a balanced pH and when distilled water is put next to aluminum, it'll leach the minerals it wants from the alloy. This causes build up and soot in the radiator tubes.

If you use an "aluminum safe" antifreeze, you'll be ok as it has silicates in it on purpose to act as sacrificial mineral deposits.

That makes sense, however the additive of the royal purple is alkiline(sp) based, I can't remember if alkilines will increase or decrease the PH balance. Anyone remember?

alkaline is anything over 7 on the PH scale.

if that's the case, wouldn't distilled water be beneficial in equalizing the chemical reaction potential of the coolant? Assuming Distilled water is close to 6.5 or at the most 6 on the pH scale, and adding coolant in a 50/50 mix will jump it up to 7.3-8pH wouldn't adding the additive only marginally increase the pH to something more alkiline?

This is rather interesting to me.

I would have to agree that the affects of using that additive in conjuction with distilled water and an AL safe coolant will be marginal. If anything, it'll tip closer to the alkaline level of the pH scale which is ultimately better than being acidic.

You maybe better with using a 60/40 though - it'll balance better IMHO. 50/50 would be good when not using that additive. How many ounces is that bottle? I know the stock coolant system is a little over two gallons I believe, we can probably figure this out, lol...

the other thing is that "close" neutral and neutral are still pretty different as far as science is concerned. Also things dont have over night either. Unless you have a Ph of like 11 or 12. But say its 8 or 6. Well your going to find yourself chemically reacting til things settle out.

I think it's 16oz
8.3 is usually what happens when you mix distilled water and gylcol type anti-freeze together. I'll probably email RP with questions about it. (This is all going into the article about cooling. I just want to get my facts and stuff straight before typing it up)

well that makes sense then if its about 8.3

Agreed. You should take measurements initially and then each day for about a week after driving. I'd be curious to see what the rate of reaction is and what it finally settles out at w/ that additive.

Somebody should do a control experiement as well w/out the additive. I don't have an engine or I would take care of this, lol...

I'd love to, but I don't have anything that can measure pH balance. I wonder how much a meter costs from a pool supply store, or even some testing strips....

I'm thinking something like this:
http://www.lesliespool.com/browse/Ho...400020/I/82053

strip testing kits are pretty inexpensive.

Tongue works too- if it's acidic, it's sour. If it's basic, it's bitter.

Oh wait, this stuff is poisonous right? Forgot... :p

I was using the stock electric fan circuit.
I threw away the POS stock electric fan, and I wired in a relay through the existing circuit.
I had my SPI water temp gauge monitoring everything.
The warning light was looking for a specific resistance through the circuit, and the relay wasn't enough - it would light the warning light anytime the fan would trigger - was rather convenient at the time.

Now I use a Spal PWM-FAN controller using the SPI water temp sensor.

Side note on the whole corrosion thing...
Distilled water is not as bad as RO water; I think the "leeching effects" are rather mild versus RO water.
Oxidized aluminum makes a very effective barrier against corrosion - this is the whole idea behind aluminum anodizing.


-Ted

Time for a resurrection

Ted, how did you fit the radiator in your 7? No matter how I cock it I can't seem to get it to lay correctly without having it stick out the bottom below the oil cooler, or interfere with the front sway bar.

I'm honestly thinking about switching to a smaller height radiator to allow me to do a completely vertical mounting of the radiator.

Anything from 20*-95*F

Never exceed 187*F

168-173* on the highway, will hit 180-185* after 4 hours of constant 4th gear dyno pulls

:rofl:

It's a Griffen universal, singlepass, Ford/Chevy opposite side in/out which worked out better for my setup. Cost was about $180 IIRC.

I've found that ducting is the key.

Don't use water wetter. It attacks ans liquifies the coolant seals

Bring her to me! MWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA! Or wait a few weeks and we'll be passing through your neighborhood.

I don't know what size you have but here are some pictures of a 27.5x19 fitting in the stock location ---> http://shookmotorsports.com/FCProducts

For my car, I had to cut the flange off the stock radiator mounts.
I had to bang the existing sheet metal just a little here and there to get the fit to be tight - keep in mind, tight is good to keep air flowing around the radiator.

Stock battery must be relocated; the stock battery tray gets in the way.
I've heard of people using really tiny gel-cell's, but I don't like running small CCA rated batteries in my street car; these set-up's notch or modify the stock battery tray.

It's a really really tight fit.
The rad cap is the closest thing to the stock (turbo ) hood.
We drop the rad until the radiator cap barely clears - like 1/4" clearance.
Yeah, the bottom of the rad ends up slightly lower than the oil cooler, but the front sway bar / engine subframe sits about the same or slightly lower.


-Ted

S4 Koyo WITH corksport fan shroud and low mile OEM viscous fan. Custom ducting for RAD and OIL COOLER off of the FMIC.

My temps at idle with brand new OEM water thermo sensor and prosport gauges: 80*C/176* F

Cruise/light load: 78*C/ 172* F, sometimes 77* C if above 40mph for sometime(no freeways in Montana and havent took her on the highway yet to see ducting efficiency)

Constant atmospheric pressure pulls: 80*C

When I actually start boosting I will record results BUT my last motor doing 4-5 constant 4th gear WOT pulls on the highway for tuning, my temps never went above 85* C with the same radiator. MIND YOU this was before my ducting too, ambient temp that day was 62* F.


I really believe in what Brian said about ducting. It works wonders.

Cause for the life of me I can't seem to figure out a way to squeeze it in height wise. I have plenty of room from side to side. A picture or two on how you mounted yours would go a long way I figure.

I'm looking at picking up one of these radiators for a new mounting scheme (minimizing intrusion into the engine bay)
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AF...N/?image=large

Yea, or nay?

My buddy has a Summit rad (griffin) that he'll probably be selling. PM me if you're interested. Brandy new, never used. Lemme know if you're at all interested.

That Afco one looks nice though....... mmmmmm doublepass

I only do double passes now. Makes the temps go down compared to stock. I'm hoping for it for Christmas.

Alright I did some more searching:
Yea or Nay on these (I'm wondering if they have enough surface area):
http://www.afabcorp.com/AFCO_Dynatec...r_dbl-pass-rad

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AF...N/?image=large

A little help will go a long way on this. I'm trying to do a perpendicular mount without intrusion into the engine bay area.

The first link is the radiator I am using. It us plenty big. My car is mainly a street car and it almost too big for that. I am on my third OEM thermostat. The thing keeps the t-stat cycling so much that it eventually wears out and stays open. I've had a large piece of cardboard in front of it for the majority of winter and still never use the fan unless Im in bumper to bumper traffic. Both of those rads you have listed will take a bit of work to get installed. with my 26"x 20", I had to relocate the battery, make mounting brackets, and fab a 1-3/4 to 1-1/2 adapter with a 3/4" barb for the heater return. I really need to take pictures and post them, but Im ashamed of my leaky front cover and excessive blow by mess. When it warms up, I might do a little cleaning and snap some pics.

I'm running a PWR radiator. Works like a champ, probably too expensive for the average fc owner but I'll have the car running in 2 or 3 months if you want some data on it