Water wetter

[ifnt420]

The local temp here yesterday was at 37.4 C.  
With all the traffic jams here the XC's temp gauge is slightly higher than normal.
Therefore I'm considering adding the Redline WaterWetter to the XC, but am not sure if there are anything I should be aware of.
Are there any other XCers using this product? Maybe on another vehicle around the house?

Thanks in advance for the advise, and here's a Link to REDLINE WaterWetter (http://www.redlineoil.com/redlineoil/wwti.htm)

Cheers

[Hiro's XC]

Don't bother. I have heard of no issues using it, but have seen only about a 5deg F lower temo in a BMW. Why take the chance it will not work with the coolant though. It was really designed for racing systems that run water only. They add this as a temp boiling point raiser and a lubricant.

Jason

[Hiro's XC]

You could try a lower thermostat. That would help.

Jason

[Supertoyz]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Hiro&#39;s XC @ July 02 2003,09:25)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">You could try a lower thermostat. That would help.

Jason[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Or you could leave it alone.....just because it&#39;s slightly hotter than normal doesn&#39;t mean that it&#39;s out of the &quot;Normal&quot; range. &nbsp;In most instances the car is totally capable of taking care of itself. &nbsp;If it&#39;s overheating you&#39;ll know it.

[SpudRacer]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">You could try a lower thermostat. That would help. [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Has anyone put a lower thermostat into their XC? I have put a lower thermostat (usually 180*) into about every vehicle I&#39;ve ever owned, including a new 92 Chevy Z71, 95&#39; Trans Am, 95&#39; Cherokee, and never had any troubles with the engines running too rich.

The XC is a whole new ballgame, though, because the whole car is computerized more than any I&#39;ve ever driven before.

For those asking, &quot;Why install a lower thermostat?&quot;



Thermostats 101:

The thermostat is designed to remain closed (via a spring) until a metal probe built into the thermostat heats up and forces the thermostat open. At this point the coolant, which was previously trapped inside the engine, now escapes the engine through the open thermostat and flows to the radiator where it is cooled. If the coolant cools too much, the metal probe shrinks in size which starts to close the thermostat restricting the flow to the radiator. This is how it maintains a constant temperature in your engine. The hotter the engine gets, the more it opens until it is fully open. The colder it gets, the more it closes until it is fully closed.

The advantage of having a &quot;lower&quot; thermostat is that it opens earlier and maintains a lower engine temperature.

The advantages of this are several:
1. The underhood temperatures and engine intake are cooler which helps the air drawn into the engine remain more dense. Dense air has more O2, which equals more power.
2. By decreasing the underhood temperatures, the hoses and wiring are subjected to lower temperatures which prolongs their life substantially.
3. By running your engine cooler, the life of the oil is extended and it doesn&#39;t break down as fast (synthetic oils such as Mobil 1 are MUCH less prone to breakdown despite high engine temperatures).
4. By running the engine cooler, the threshold for detonation (see prior lecture on fuel octane choices) is increased which allows your engine to advance the timing further before detonation occurs, this will also increase your power output and raise your mileage by &quot;a tiny bit&quot;.

The disadvantages:
1. By running the engine cooler, the computer will sense that the engine is not warmed up and CAN cause the engine to run richer to warm it up faster. This can result in a decrease in mileage and cause an increased buildup of carbon on your spark plugs which could then misfire unless you detect this by examining your plugs and replacing them with a colder running plug.
2. It takes longer to heat up corn-on-the-cob if you are the type to heat up food under the hood while you drive. If you haven&#39;t tried it, search the net for books on the subject. They are out there, and it DOES work&#33;
3. It takes about 3-4 minutes longer to heat up the interior of the car on cold mornings as the maximum temperature of the heater air will be reduced due to the reduced temperature of the coolant. Mind you, the temperature of the air is still VERY HOT once the engine is warmed up and will cause you to sweat quickly if you leave the heat on high unless you replace your thermostat with a 160* unit.

Bottom line, I&#39;m not sure how the XC70 will respond to a temperature of 180* vs. the stock ____* (anybody know if it&#39;s 195* or 205*?).

I will be replacing ours with a 180* thermostat once we hit 5000 miles and I have a good idea of the mileage we are getting. Then an accurate comparision can be made to see if it suffers from running cooler. In the past I have found that dropping the temp from 195* to 180* does not adversely affect the mileage, but a drop to a 160* thermostat usually will.

Sorry for such a long post. A knowledgable driver is a better driver. I welcome alternate opinions on this matter. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Tom

[barrysharp]

On a hot day in Death Valley (http://www.death.valley.national-park.com/sights.htm#aut) when you haul the XC70 out of the sweltering cauldron the car will overheat unless you disengage the A/C. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[Raynald]

Tom, once again, what a nice explanation&#33; If you&#39;re not a teacher yet, you should be&#33; http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif