My new toy went out last night for the 1st cruise under my ownership.
1966 Satellite hemi auto 3.54 dana

And I feel the car runs a little warmer than I would prefer. right at half way up the stock gauge on the interstate. But once in stop and go traffic it warmed up a little more then I would prefer,. it,,went nearly to the top of the gauge. and spit out some coolant once parked .
The ride back home on the interstate it remained in the center of the gauge the entire drive. That I think I can live with .

I have to find out what thermostat is in it .
Car is a street hemi, auto, approx. a 18" fixed blade fan , stock radiator and shroud. the OE rad had a new 3 row core done when the car was done. But has only had maybe 1000 miles on it in 15 plus years.
I don't know yet if the block is bored or not. SO I need to do some digging. before getting to radical.
BUT, ,,,,,

My questions is, has anyone used the stuff called water wetter , results good or bad .
If I can cool it off maybe 20 degrees I would feel much better . The weather last nite was nice upper 80s for the drive up and maybe lower 80s for the drive home

Howard Stewart, the founder of Stewart Components,

https://www.stewartcomponents.com/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=11

was a top Nascar cooling guru,
and used to run a question and answer internet board before he retired.
Stewart used to say water wetter showed minimal gains and that it was better to use pure water at a higher pressure.

Since those days in the 1990s NASCAR has gone to even higher pressures

https://jalopnik.com/the-fascinating-reason-why-nascar-engines-run-so-hot-1835071544

Before I went to Evans NPG waterless coolant in 1998
I tried water wetter in 50/50 coolant and saw about a 4 degree drop in part throttle driving with a 205 thermostat in a Magnum 5.9 V8.

I used it in the past with my 440-6 when it had a aggressive solid cam, 2” hooker super comp headers, 915 heads, switching between 160 and 180 t stat and mechanical carbs, 3500 TC. to be honest Bill, I don’t think it made a difference. When moving temp would be around 185-190, when at a light 200 and a little higher(on a mechanical gauge). I think that was due to the sum of the parts. Now after rebuilding/restoring, 9.5 compression, stock converter, stock carbs, exhaust manifolds, 180 stat, 906 heads, on the rally cluster temp gauge on a hot day it hangs right at the little line at the edge of the C range, barely breaks a sweat...I sometimes wonder if it’s running too cool. I don’t think the WW did anything personally.

Is the fixed fan 4 blade?, 5 blade? 7 blade?....if it's a 4 I'd switch to a 5 minimum or 7 FIXED, no clutch...

The blade should reside at least 50 to 75% inside the shroud for maximum pull

No mention if you've flushed the coolant and replaced?...personally I prefer Zerex G-05 with Redline water wetter, I've found the Redline WW good for up to 10 degrees less in my wingcar which runs "very warm" engine wise and underhood temp wise due to the nosecone's small opening... the Zerex is slightly clear in color and doesn't stain like the standard green juice, and Zerex is an IAT not an OAT (orange death Dexcool) coolant, Zerex is about all I run in the DD and toys, if your going to run Zerex, flush the system completely/thoroughly ....

Mike

Mike its an 8 blade fan. No clutch.
The center of the blades are right at the edge of the shroud. So i think im good there

Ive not opened it ip just yet. So don't know what tstat is in it yet.

I am thinking changing the thermostat ....simply because is old qnd unknown temps
. If i do..i will change stat and flush the system and upgrade coolant.at same time.

I am preparied to park to car during the high temp summer months. Southern Arizona you know
But ambient temps are nice right know.

What pulleys are on it? Moving water through the system too fast may not allow enough transfer time. Radiator cap pressure rating and is it good? Higher pressure increases the boiling point.

Stock diam pulleys. It has a fluid dampner on it but lower pulley appears about same diam of an orignal hemi lower.
Rad cap is new nodern mopar cap.

I plan to drive it later today...westher permitting. And will pick up new coolant and thermostat while we are out.

Some of the dash lights are out as well...... So will be working on it all weekend .
I want to add some kind of coolant overflow tank as well.

My experience is that water wetter had no effect on my hot running 71 Charger/440/22-inch radiator. In my case, an aluminum radiator was the answer.

Greg

WW has worked for me, seems good for a few degrees of temp.
Reducing the amount of coolant/antifreeze from 50% to about 25-30% and a cooler thermostat brought my 454 Dually from 200-205 to 180.
That also made it take longer to warm up, but I can live with that.
On your car, I'd want to run a mech gauge for a test rather than assume the factory gauge is accurate.
More info needed as already asked, but fan/pump speed (smaller pulley) is another solution.
My 438" Street Hemi (+.055 bore) - pretty big cam, 4.10s 4-speed - never saw over 180 no matter what. Added row in radiator, otherwise OEM cooling.

If it cools fine on the freeway but not at low speed then it is probably an airflow issue. Might need a fan with more blades or perhaps the position of the fan inside the shroud needs to be fixed. Also a good idea to verify that the radiator is in good shape. If the car has been sitting a lot then the radiator core could have some plugged up passages. Cars that sit a lot develop lots of little problems like that.

SNAKE OIL IMO.
Your gauge readings may or may not be accurate. My suggested approach to temperature related issues.

Step # 1 buy a thermocouple and digital meter. Make sure to get a T/C that matches the meter as there are different types that will skew your readings. The most common are type K or J. Many of the newer DVM's (digital volt meter) have a plug in for T/C's> they can be had relatively inexpensively as can the T/C probes

Step #2 Buy a T/C probe with an .125 OD SS sheath ( enclosure) around it. Buy an extension lead that is long enough to put the meter in the car.

Step #3 Install the TC probe as close as possible to the thermostat.

Step 4# Put the meter in the car. Take passenger along to record the ACTUAL temperatures under various conditions. You may be surprised to see the things that affect the temps such as a semi in front of you, climbing a slight grade etc. Example: with a borderline radiator, Going north on I-29 has a tendency to slowly raise temps, turning around and going south lowers them. This typically indicates an undersized, partially blocked, or inefficient radiator core. Sometimes turning the heater on will help as it adds a small amount of cooling to the system.

The above efforts will confirm or invalidate your suspected problem and tell you exactly what the temps are and when.
Once you have that information , you will then know how to approach resolving the issue if there is one

I’ve found it good for a few degrees.
For $10 it won’t hurt and worth a try.

Whats the initial timing ?

Will ck timing later.this afternoon

Water Wetter is a good product but it isn't going to solve your problem. Water Wetter isn't a problem solver, it is just a good idea that helps the coolant work a little better. I run 100% water in my Duster with a bottle of water wetter and the car runs cool but it isn't because of the Water Wetter, it is because is has a good radiator and a shroud and a big fan and the correct pulley ratio and all that other stuff.

I thought it made the water less viscous, which would be a good thing... no?

I used a bottle of in it my race cars. I mainly use it since I have to run straight water and it helps keeps the waterpump lube. I think it might've made a 5-10 degree change at the most at the track, but I have no street experience with it.

I use Waterwetter in my 451 ci 11.1 c.r. with 22 inches rad with shrould , never had overheating problems...
The trick is more use of watter = less heat in the engine.
antifreeze is not the best to cool engine.
during summer you don't need antifreze...

The trick is more use of watter = less heat in the engine
And a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

Rubbing alcohol ????






Thanks so far.

What I know of the power train so far is its
426 Hemi compression is in the 11-11.5 range . Steel block and heads , stock exhaust , stock dual point dist. ( dont know base or advanced specs timing yet ) Stock water pump and hsg ( know idea of impeller blade count )
Pulleys are stock Mopar stuff and diam is I believe pretty close to OE
Trans is also stock with a mild street build with approx a 3000 / 3500 stall conv . it has the stock console mounted tach but I seriously doubt its accurate based on driving it so far



Its my understanding the purpose of WW or any wetting agent is to take the surface tension off of the water. ( think eliminating the bubbles in a pot of water on the stove ) Thus allowing the water to cover more of the surface area inside the cooling passages.

I have no problem running straight water as long as said WW agent helps control rust from forming inside the engine and allows some kind of lube for the water pump even if its minimal

Temps out here RARELY get below freezing . At most maybe a few times a year . IF they do the car will be in the garage anyway so its not a problem .
During summer months when its 100 Plus the car will hibernate . Black car, no A/C and temps of 110 ( or more ) is not a good mix .



I plan to reach out to the guy who built the engine one day next week sometime and see if he remembers details of the build. standard bore or not , type of water pump , thermostat temp range , etc etc .

When I shut it off last nite , it spit a little coolant out the overflow and was gurgling slightly. It wasn't scorching hot per say ,,,,,,but it was warmer than I would really prefer .