I added a full bottle of Water Wetter to my 03 Max SE yest and drove around both yest and today to see if the engine would run a little cooler. Yet, there doesn't seem to be any difference on my Max. It just stays at the third bar from the bottom on the temp guage. Thats where its been for as long as I've owned the Max when fully warmed.

Does it take a while for the water wetter to begin affecting the engine temp??

 

It may be affecting the water temp, but Maxima temp gauges are "dumbed down". This means that the "normal" level is actually a broad range of temperatures so people don't freak out if the temp gauge moves a little. I think it was Jime that tested his with a Consult tool (or equivalent) and found the gauge read normal from about 160* to 200* (I may be off on the numbers, but it is a broad range). You could try to search for a post by Jime regarding coolant temps.

Dave

 

WaterWetter will lower the temperature more if you change the coolant/water ratio.

Specificly, go to a 30/70 mixture, distilled water/coolant versus the 50/50. I would not go past this ratio.

Water disperse-s heat better than coolant but by itself will cause corrosion. Coolant/antifreeze prevents the freeze up and boil over.

 

i ran redline water wetter and a 10/90 mix of coolant/water last summer just for the racing season in my SE-R until i threw the #2 piston rod through the block(spiking low a/f ratio and it was after a few visits to the local track did i finally remember to bump the timing back down after i put the spray back on OUCH). I could tell a difference but only when at the track. I recommend this ratio only if you check it consistently, and NOT for daily driving all year round.

 

Dave hit the nail on the head. The stock temp gauges are buffered to prevent idiots from freaking out if the gauge moves. As a result, you will never see water wetter affect the gauge though it very well may be running cooler. The only way to know for sure would be to run an aftermarket gauge (or do what Jime did).

I've only seen the temp. go above normal on my car once, and that was when it was a hundred degrees out and I was on a roadcourse for 30 minutes at full throttle.

 

Although the gauge may have a wide temp range before it reflects a change, is the sending unit more accurate? i.e. Would one get a more accurate reading if one were to get the temps off of a code scanner?

 

My understanding of Nissan temp sending units is that they are of the variable ground type. This would lead me to believe that the sending unit sends accurate temps, but the gauge we have is "dumbed down". Would be interesting if someone had a decent numerical aftermarket temp gauge to splice in to our sending unit wire.
I think you'd get an accurate reading from the code scanner or Consult. But, don't we have 2 temp sending units (one for gauge, one for ECU)? That would mean that the scanner or Consult is getting the temp from the ECU's temp sending unit, and not the one for the gauge.

Dave

 

The coolant may be more efficient, but isn't engine temperature controlled by the thermostat?

 

Actually, I'd expect an increase, since the temp gauge/sender is measuring coolant temperature.

Water wetter allows more heat to be transfered to the coolant from the hottest areas of the head by preventing boiling and bubbles forming. Bubbles act as an insulator, so the coolant doesn't absorb as much heat. The amount of time that is required for the bubbles to turn back into liquid depends on cooling system pressure. The higher the pressure the longer it takes, so they can make it all the way to the radiator before they are cooled enough for the vapor-to-liquid change. This limits the amount of surface-to-liquid contact and thus heat transfer to the coolant.

IIRC, once the car is warmed up past the thermostats normal operating temp, the coolant is freely allowed into the radiator. The only difference the WW would cause would be that your fans would turn on sooner and off later, ie extend the operating time to cool coolant below the threshold.

Useful reading:
http://www.myoilshop.com/WWTech2.html
http://www.evanscooling.com/main25.htm

 

Consult tells me my water is at 212 degress after driving about 35 miles... is that normal range?

 

You have a Consult?

My OBD scanner varies around 190-200F, I think. Depends on temp and vehicle speed though.

 

Sounds good guys...thanks for the info!

One additional question, when I put the water wetter in my Max, I inadvertantly just added the bottle to the reservoir. Now the fluid level in the reservoir bottle is above the max line probably by about 2".

Is this bad? Will it cause a problem?

Thanks fellas...

 

Not likely unless you boil over. Less room will just not allow as much room for expansion IF the coolant overflows.

Since my radiator was pretty much full, I just added mine to the reservior. Then I just picked up the reservior and let the mix fill up the neck on the radiator until no more air bubble was present.

After a few drives, it mixed.